Google Lens, the visual search tool that is available as a standalone app and embedded into Google’s Pixel phones, is getting a major update. Soon, you’ll be able to save the images you analyze with Lens and easily revisit them whenever you’d like. This is a much-needed feature that users have been asking for.Previously, when you used Google Lens to search for information about an image, the image itself wasn’t saved. This meant you had to either take a separate photo with your camera app and then search with Lens or lose the visual content after your search was complete.
Now, as reported by 9to5Google, Google Lens can automatically save the images you search with it. You can always find them later by visiting myactivity.google.com. From there, you can even re-download the images if you want to run another Lens search or use them for something else. This eliminates the issue of having to go through several steps to capture and then identify an image with Lens and makes it easier to reference past searches in the future.
This change applies specifically to searches done with Google Lens within the Google app. Images analyzed through the Google Photos integration or other Lens features, such as Circle to Search, won’t be saved in this history.
The new feature is optional and will need to be turned on manually by navigating to your Google account settings, which can be found at myaccount.google.com. From there, enable the “Include Visual Search History” option under “Data & Privacy” > “Web & App Activity.”
The rollout of this new Visual Search History capability starts today and should reach all users within the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for a pop-up in Google Lens that will let you know when the feature is available for you.
The IntelBroker hacker claims to have breached Acuity, a US federal contractor and is now selling data belonging to ICE and USCIS – This incident could potentially expose sensitive information of immigrants and could have national security implications.
The notorious hacker known as IntelBroker has claimed responsibility for a recent data breach allegedly targeting Acuity Inc., a Federal contractor based in Reston, Virginia. The breach has resulted in the theft of sensitive data and documents from two prominent U.S. government entities: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
For your information, Acuity Inc. is a federal technology consulting firm headquartered in Reston, Virginia. They offer their deep industry expertise to federal agencies, particularly those focused on National Security and Public Safety. According to the company, their core mission is to help these agencies plan for the future, improve their ability to serve citizens and deliver measurable results through innovative technology solutions and proven management techniques.
These alarming claims surfaced in a recent post on Breach Forums, a notorious cybercrime and hacker forum. Hackread.com has exclusively confirmed that the stolen data is currently being offered for sale on the forum for a mere $3,000 in Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency.
Screenshot: Hackread.com
Following the breach announcement on Breach Forums, IntelBroker proceeded to showcase a sample of the alleged stolen data, purportedly containing personal and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of over 100,000 victims. The showcased records include:
Full names
Passport
Date of Birth
Phone numbers
Email addresses
Physical addresses
Physical attributes.
According to the hacker, “everything belongs to the US citizens,” implying that the compromised data contains information about civilians as well as government agents.
The Sensitive Nature of Data
In addition to the information available on the forum, Hackread.com gained insight into further sensitive data, including source code, user manual, confidential conversations and feedback exchanged between ICE agents and contractors. This extended to discussions on investigative techniques such as those utilized by the Five Eyes alliance, the Ukraine, and Russia conflict, information on terrorism-related seminars globally, etc.
Moreover, the alleged compromised data includes .GOV-hosted emails containing plain-text passwords for some. It’s worth noting, however, that these accounts are protected by Two-factor Authentication (2FA), and any unauthorized attempts to access them are promptly blocked until a valid code is provided.
Leaked email addresses (left) and what happened when the hacker attempted to sign in (right) Screenshot: Hackread.com
Given the highly sensitive nature of this information, Hackread.com has refrained from sharing some screenshots and has redacted sample data accordingly. It’s essential to emphasise that, at no point, did Hackread.com attempt to access these accounts.
How did the alleged hack take place?
In an exclusive conversation with the hacker, Hackread.com learned that they had exploited a critical 0-day vulnerability in GitHub. Despite not disclosing technical details of the Proof of Concept (PoC) regarding the alleged vulnerability, the hacker claimed that this flaw enables attackers to steal GitHub tokens and advance their malicious activities.
In response to these developments, Hackread.com has initiated contact with GitHub, ICE, USCIS, and Acuity Inc. to request their comments on the matter.
In fact, according to the United States government, IntelBroker is also the hacker behind one of the T-Mobile data breaches.
Aftermath of Acuity Inc.’s Alleged Breach
The aftermath of Acuity Inc.’s alleged breach carries potentially severe and long-lasting repercussions. The compromised data, if obtained by nations deemed adversarial by the United States, could pose significant risks to national security. The exploitation of such intelligence-related information may jeopardize the safety of agents and officials, as well as compromise ongoing operations.
Moreover, recent events highlight the vulnerability posed by third-party contractors. Just recently, on March 4th, 2024, American Express disclosed that its cardholders had been affected by a significant data breach originating from a third-party vendor.
In August 2023, an IT contractor employed by the Metropolitan Police Force experienced a cyberattack that impacted over 50,000 MET police personnel.
In September 2023, a third-party contractor experienced a data breach that affected over 8,000 Greater Manchester Police Officers. In October 2023, another contractor inadvertently exposed their database, resulting in the leakage of sensitive details about 500,000 Irish Police vehicle seizure records.
Chrome Custom Tabs were added to Android back in 2020 as a way to provide app developers and users with a way to have a customized browser experience within a specified app. The feature allows users to open web pages within the app without having to switch to a separate browser or using the old WebView method.However, even with the added convenience of having all the features of a full browser available within apps like X or Slack, for example, there were still some caveats when you wanted to still have access to the original post. Once you opened a web link within an app, you were stuck in that view, and the only way to see the original post again was by backing out of the web page. This will soon change.A new experimental flag has appeared in Chrome for Android, which Mishaal Rahman and Artem Russakovskii noticed. The flag named “Allow Custom Tabs to be minimized” allows you to minimize the webpage that loads within an app after clicking on a link, showing it as a small overlay at the bottom of the screen, picture-in-picture style. This view allows you to move back and forth to the web content without fully navigating away from the original post.
You’ll soon be able to minimize Chrome Custom Tabs so you can interact with an underlying app without fully closing out your browser tab!
Google says this is enabled by default for Custom Tabs starting with Chrome 122 Beta. pic.twitter.com/wEo4d8cSY9
This feature can be currently enabled in the stable version of Chrome for Android by navigating to chrome://flags and searching for the #cct-minimized flag. However, we do not recommend doing this if you are not an experienced user (or a daredevil) simply because enabling experimental flags can sometimes break features, lead to crashes, or cause other issues with the browser.
Having said that, Chrome for Android Beta already has this feature turned on by default. It became available with version 122 and is at version 123 currently. The stable version of Chrome for Android is at version 122, so we shouldn’t have to wait much longer for this to become a standard feature for all users.
Threads by Instagram has been on a roll lately, adding new features and improvements to the app. Just yesterday, we reported on how Threads officially rolled out saving drafts and taking photos from inside the app, and today, we are excited to find out that Threads now also supports Ultra HDR images and 10-bit video on Pixel devices. This means that your photos and videos will appear with enhanced colors, superior brightness, and deeper contrasts.As tested and reported by 9to5Google, to benefit from this, you’ll need a recent Pixel phone device such as the Pixel 8 series, Pixel 7 series, or the Pixel Fold. These phones are equipped with the displays required to showcase Ultra HDR and 10-bit HDR content in a way that can be appreciated.
Pixel support for Ultra HDR photos and 10-bit HDR videos was added to Instagram as part of the March Pixel Feature Drop. However, when this dropped, there was no mention that other Meta apps, such as Threads, would gain this support as well. This omission seems kind of strange, considering how Threads is attempting to appeal to the masses by rolling out new features on a regular basis.
It’s important to note, however, that while Threads now supports these formats, your Pixel won’t automatically capture content in Ultra HDR. To enable this functionality, you will need to dig into the Pixel camera settings, but it’s fortunately a simple process. Here’s how:
To enable Ultra HDR images:
Open the Google camera app
Tap on Settings
Tap on More settings
Tap on Advanced
Tap on Ultra HDR
Toggle it on
To enable 10-bit video:
Keep in mind that this limits you to 30fps at both 1080p and 4K resolutions.
Open the Google camera app
Tap on Settings
Look for 10-bit HDR
Toggle it on
This addition to Threads hints at ongoing improvements in how Meta develops its Android apps. Google recently highlighted how the tech giants are working together to streamline this process. It appears that Threads is one of several Meta apps already reaping the benefits of this collaboration.
Google Wallet is receiving a set of small quality of life updates designed to enhance the user experience and make it your go-to digital home for essential passes, tickets, and more. The updates include tighter integration with Gmail to eliminate the extra step of manually adding passes and movie tickets to your wallet.
Easily access your movie tickets and boarding passes from Gmail
If you’ve ever purchased a movie ticket or booked a flight online, you’ve likely encountered the inconvenience of having to scramble through your Gmail in order to find the confirmation. Only to find out that the cellular signal is very weak, and your email won’t load. This is a perfect use case for Google Wallet, which Google just announced (via Mishaal Rahman) now directly integrates with Gmail, automatically surfacing movie tickets and boarding passes from participating airlines and movie chains.Google states that this feature is currently available with select global chains, but that the company is working hard to expand its reach. This will likely save you some time and fuss, as you can now have your tickets and passes readily available in one spot with you need them.
Image via Mishaal Rahman
Enhanced Pass management: Archive and unarchive with ease
Managing your collection of passes within Google Wallet just got more convenient. You now have the ability to manually archive most passes. Archiving a pass places it in the “Archived Passes” section (which was formerly called “Expired Passes”) of the app.
If you ever need to unarchive any of these previous passes, you can do so as well by tapping on the pass and selecting “Unarchive Pass.” Furthermore, the ability to archive passes extends to your Wear OS devices for more efficient organization, no matter where you are.
Loyalty rewards shine on Google
Google Wallet is further blurring the lines between your digital life and the real world. For US-based users, there’s a new beta feature out: loyalty cards saved in Wallet are now cleverly linked with Google Search and Shopping. This means that your membership benefits can be highlighted as you browse for products online, potentially unlocking special offers and discounts. Businesses interested in taking part in this beta test will need to reach out to Google support in order to enroll.
Google Wallet expands its reach
Lastly, Google Wallet is becoming more accessible around the globe. Back in November, Google Wallet became available to residents of the Dominican Republic, Monaco, and Peru. This means that Google Wallet is now available in 74 countries worldwide for both Android and Wear OS.
Threat actors aim at Cloud environments because of their wide acceptance and one-stop storage of important information.
Exploiting shortcomings in cloud security may enable unauthorized access to sensitive data, interruptions in infrastructure, or earning money.
The fact that the systems are highly scalable and interconnected makes them good targets for cyber-attacks.
Cybersecurity analysts at the NSA recently released the top ten best security practices for cloud environments.
Top Ten Best Practices For Cloud Environments
NSA researchers recently released cloud security mitigation strategies in an attempt to educate cloud users about important security practices. Threat actors mostly target cloud users while they shift their data to cloud environments.
The document has 10 Cybersecurity Information Sheets (CSIs), every one focusing on a distinct approach.
For six of the 10 strategies, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) collaborates with the National Security Agency (NSA).
Here below, we have mentioned all the top ten best security practices for cloud environments provided by the NSA:-
Uphold the cloud shared responsibility model: This CSI educates on a cloud framework by clarifying the security responsibilities for both CSP and customers in securing their chosen cloud instance.
Use secure cloud identity and access management practices (Joint with CISA): This CSI clarifies cloud identity management threats and suggests best practices to mitigate them for organizations in the cloud.
Use secure cloud key management practices (Joint with CISA): This CSI suggests key management options and best practices for their use. It emphasizes the importance of understanding shared security responsibilities with cloud KMS.
Implement network segmentation and encryption in cloud environments (Joint with CISA): This CSI advises on applying principles in cloud environments that are distinct from on-prem networks. Cloud tech offers an infrastructure for ZT without specialized appliances. It primarily highlights the best practices using common cloud features.
Secure data in the cloud (Joint with CISA): Securing cloud data is crucial as organizations migrate. Understanding data sensitivity, choosing proper storage, and applying security measures are the key factors. This CSI gives an overview and practices for securing and auditing cloud storage.
Defending continuous integration/continuous delivery environments (Joint with CISA): NSA and CISA offer this CSI to enhance cloud DevSecOps defenses. It guides integrating security into DevOps CI/CD environments, leveraging government guidance for robust CI/CD cloud deployments.
Enforce secure automated deployment practices through infrastructure such as code: IaC, baselines, and golden images, which are templates for deploying resources across on-premises and in thecloud. IaC automates deployment using code, including security policies. Baselines and golden images provide secure starting points.
Account for complexities introduced by hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments: This CSI tackles challenges in implementing hybrid and multi-cloud by offering solutions to mitigate increased complexity.
Mitigate risks from managed service providers in cloud environments (Joint with CISA): MSPs manage IT services in the cloud, offering backup, infrastructure, and security. They provide tailored solutions, but using them increases cybersecurity risks.
Manage cloud logs for effective threat hunting: Cloud tenant access is complex due to virtualization, as the security relies on unmodifiable logs. So, the access policies, logs, and audits must be monitored. Organizations must manage logs for threat hunting and compliance.
Cloud computing boosts IT efficacy and security if deployed correctly.
However, data concentration attracts the threat actors, so these guidelines will allow them to safeguard their cloud environment.
With Perimeter81 malware protection, you can block malware, including Trojans, ransomware, spyware, rootkits, worms, and zero-day exploits. All are incredibly harmful and can wreak havoc on your network.
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The HONOR Magic6 Ultimate Edition will launch on March 18, the company has confirmed. This information has been shared by HONOR itself, and some of its higher officials via their social media accounts.
The HONOR Magic6 Ultimate Edition will launch on March 18 in China
Having said that, the company also shared a teaser on Weibo (China’s social media network). You can check out that image below. Not only does it reveal a part of the design of the phone, but it also states the aforementioned date.
You can immediately notice that the camera module on the back will be different compared to the regular model. It will not be circular. It will actually be squarish, with rounded corners. Interestingly enough, the top right and bottom left corners will be more rounded than the other two. The glass on top of the cameras is also curved.
Based on this image, we can also see that HONOR will use vegan leather on the back of this phone. This seems to be a black-colored variant with a dark gray frame and a gold accent around the camera island.
You can clearly see that HONOR plans to stick with the camera layout here. It’s basically the same as on the HONOR Magic6 Pro, and this phone will likely have the same internals or at least almost the same as the Magic6 Pro.
The Motorola Moto G Power 5G (2024) appeared on Geekbench with some of its specs
The device managed to score 679 points in the single-core, and 2,005 points in the multi-core test. This is not exactly a premium product, but a budget one, so keep that in mind.
Geekbench revealed that the phone will be fueled by the MediaTek Dimensity 7020 processor. That is basically a rebrand of the MediaTek Dimensity 930 chip, for those of you who are unaware.
That is an octa-core processor that has two cores that run at 2.2GHz, and six cores that run at 2.0GHz. The PowerVR B-Series BXM-8-256 GPU is in use here. The phone will include 8GB of RAM, and Android 14 will come pre-installed on it.
That is everything that Geekbench shared, but it’s not all we know. The Moto G Power 5G (2024) did surface in images before. It appeared in CAD-based renders, while some official images also surfaced.
The phone is coming in two color variants, with a 5,000mAh battery
The device will include two cameras on the back. They’ll be placed in the top-left corner and will be vertically aligned. There will be a flat display on the front, with a centered display camera hole. The bottom bezel will be noticeably thicker than the rest, and an audio jack will sit at the bottom of the phone.
The OnePlus 13 appears in a render, but it’s probably fake
A sketch that resembles this render was first reported to be one of the company’s upcoming Ace phones. In addition to that, it doesn’t look particularly believable. It looks like something a designer put together and pushed it out.
There’s of course a chance that we’re wrong, but the OnePlus 13 is not expected to arrive until January next year. Its CAD-based renders are not even close to being available, so… chances are this render is not real.
However, the OnePlus 13 is tipped to get a complete redesign. Its rear camera module will look considerably different than it did in the last couple of years. So, we may see something similar to this, who knows?
Based on this render, the phone will have three vertically aligned cameras
The render shown here has three vertically aligned cameras, while the middle one is the largest. That camera also has a green circle around it, for whatever reason, and there’s the Hasselblad branding below it.
An LED flash is also shown here, next to the camera island, while you can also see the company’s logo on the back. The physical buttons are placed on the right-hand side. The volume rocker buttons seem to be quite long, though.
The backplate here is mostly flat, but it does curve towards the frame on the very edges… on all sides. That render comes from OnePlus Clud, which is not the usual source for leaks. So, the point is, take this image with a grain of salt, as it’s easily possible it’s not real.
Instagram has been consistent with updates, and lately, it brought some cool features to private messages. It includes editing the message you sent, pinning your top three conversations, and more. But there’s something more, you mightn’t know about. Instagram has recently brought in a secret emoji game. Well, this is fun to play around especially when your friend isn’t responding on time. It’s a cool time killer and of course, a fun mini-game.
You can start playing Instagram’s secret emoji game, right now
This mini-game is available right now, and you can get ready with that. To get started, start a conversation with anyone, or even engage with Meta’s AI assistant. Once you’ve slid into one’s DMs, simply drop an emoji. Again, it could be any emoji. But you might want to choose what you like because that’ll be your in-game character or the bouncing ball of Instagram’s secret emoji game.
After you pick the emoji and send it, you need to tap it. At that point, it becomes bouncing the ball/emoji around the screen. You use a slider to stop it from going past the bottom of the screen. Every time you stop the emoji, you get a point. But if it gets past your slider, the game ends. Winning isn’t clear, but the emoji will get faster as you play, making it harder. What’s worth mentioning is it saves your high score, so you can try beating it the next time. This game recalls my memories of playing the Dinosaur T-Rex Game on Chrome, which shows up if your internet is down and saves the high score.
A spokesperson told The Sun that Meta is “always working on ways to make Instagram feel more fun while connecting with friends.”
