Intel looks to be on-track with the release of its upcoming CPU models, and is seemingly unphased by Arm-based CPUs from competitors that are on the horizon for the PC market. Recently it was discovered that Arm-based CPUs for the PC market would be coming from some of Intel’s biggest competitors, including AMD, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA.
These CPUs are poised to expand the options for the market. And surely the additional options will trickle down to the consumer level. But Intel doesn’t appear to be too worried. During the company’s recent earnings call, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger says that it takes all competition seriously. He then follows up by saying the competition doesn’t seem all that significant. “We take all competition seriously. But I think history as our guide here, we don’t see these potentially being all that significant overall.”
Intel isn’t worried about Arm-based PC CPUs because it has a strong roadmap
Gelsinger says that Intel has “strong momentum” with its own upcoming Arm-based product line and that the company has a strong roadmap. This includes the upcoming Meteor Lake chips launching in mid-December. As well as next-gen product offerings in the Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake lineups coming in 2024.
Intel already has its 2025 offerings mapped out too. With Panther Lake products set to arrive in 2025. According to Gelsinger (via Wccftech) Panther Lake will head into the fabrication stage in the first quarter of next year. In addition to its upcoming products, Intel has recently launched its Raptor Lake refresh. Like its upcoming chips, these have a larger focus on providing AI-based features. With regards to the Raptor Lake refresh specifically AI plays a role in helping to overclock the CPU.
Laptops running on the Meteor Lake chips also recently leaked via retailer websites. Showcasing what consumers can expect on pricing.
The organization targeted in the incident is Westat, a data firm utilized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for survey administration.
The MOVEit data breach has caused havoc across all prominent industries and organizations. This large-scale cyberattack in May 2023 (from May 28th to May 30th, 2023) has claimed countless victims.
The attackers exploited a vulnerability in a managed file transfer software called MOVEit Transfer developed by Ipswitch INC. Many organizations have become targets of this breach including government agencies, airlines, educational and financial institutions and healthcare providers, and lost sensitive data such as credit card numbers, PII, and SSNs (social security numbers).
Bloomberg reports that the US Department of Justice is amongst the government agencies targeted in the MOVEit Transfer vulnerability exploitation spree. Reportedly, the email addresses of 632,000 employees from the agencies were accessed.
According to the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act request, hackers obtained access to email addresses linked to government employee surveys and internal agency tracking codes by exploiting the MOVEit file transfer program used by Westat, a data firm the OPM uses for administer surveys.
Impacted employees mostly belonged to the Defense Department, including the Air Force, the Army, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff officials.
Hackread.com has been following the series of cyberattacks that took place in May 2023. The Russian-speaking cybercrime group Cl0p ransomware gang is blamed for exploiting this vulnerability. The gang made the stolen data public, impacting hundreds of government entities and businesses worldwide.
In June 2023, the National Student Clearinghouse reported that 900 US schools were impacted by the MOVEit hack, with hackers stealing sensitive student records. In October, Sony confirmed that the data breach caused by the exploitation of MOVEit vulnerability has impacted 6791 of its previous and current employees or their family members,
Progress (formally Ipswitch) released a patch for the vulnerability but many organizations haven’t yet applied the patch and remain vulnerable to cyberattacks. The full extent of damage caused by the breach in May is yet unknown but quite possibly hackers gained access to classified data.
Commenting on this latest development, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, Eric Kron, told Hackread that the Cl0p ransomware group has continuously made headlines for its attacks exploiting the MOVEit vulnerability, and has emerged as an unconventional gang that doesn’t bother about encrypting the data or disruption of service. This is why in many cases victims of data breaches remain unaware because there aren’t any ‘evident signs.’
“This group continues to make the news due to its exploits against MOVEit and the tactics it employed. Unlike the more traditional ransomware gangs that are operating this group does not bother with the encryption of the data and subsequent disruption of services. This means that in many cases the victims may not realise they are suffering a breach because there are no extremely evident signs such as failures of service or systems going offline.”
“While the group promised to delete information related to governments, cities or police departments, it seems highly unlikely that this group is to be trusted. While they may not leak this information publicly, it could be of great interest to other nation states looking to gather intelligence on American citizens or government agencies, potentially offering them a source of income if willing to sell the information to these entities.”
“Since patches are available for the MOVEit software, organisations must ensure they’ve been applied. Any organisations that have operated the software during the times of known attacks would be wise to ensure that there is no sign of previous exploitation of these vulnerabilities, even if they have not been approached with a ransom demand yet,” Kron added.
Google has ramped up its customer support on Reddit for Pixel phones. The aim is to provide timely assistance and engage with users’ concerns more effectively. Since the end of September, Google has been consistently responding to queries on the platform, marking a notable shift in its approach.
Previously, Google’s presence on Reddit managed through the u/PixelCommunity profile, was occasional, with long gaps between responses. However, the tech giant’s interaction with the Reddit community has seen a positive transformation in recent months.
In March, Google signaled a more committed presence on Reddit, introducing itself as the “official Reddit profile for Google Pixel Support.” The company expressed its intent to proactively assist Pixel users and address their issues.
The additional support might be especially helpful, considering the existence of various issues on Android 14. These problems range from the Pixel 8 Pro’s tinted AOD to the media storage issue, which affects all models from Pixel 6 to Pixel 8.
Google’s elevated customer support on Reddit for Pixel phones
The substantial change came towards the end of September, with Google now responding several times a day, reports 9to5Google. Reddit’s format allows for more detailed responses, often featuring step-by-step instructions to resolve common problems. In many cases, the responses include links to full support articles on Google’s official site. Google also occasionally suggests users contact phone or chat support for a more in-depth examination of their issues.
The responses tend to be general and straightforward, frequently involving recommendations to ensure devices are running the latest software updates or suggestions to clear app caches. This direct interaction with Google on Reddit offers users more immediate, official assistance than traditional online forums.
Google’s Reddit support primarily focuses on Pixel phones, including the Google Pixel Fold, and occasionally addresses questions about the Google Pixel Tablet. The company is actively monitoring various Pixel-related subreddits. The focus in particular is on r/Google Pixel, which boasts over a million subscribers.
This improved support approach indicates Google’s commitment to enhancing customer service and providing timely, effective assistance for Pixel users.
On December 8, 2022, Disney+ finally launched its ads tier. So now you can save a few bucks and get Disney+ with ads. But it’s not as simple as just saving a few bucks a month with this plan. There’s some other caveats here, as there was with Netflix. So let’s go over everything that you need to know about Disney+ with ads.
How much does it cost?
Coinciding with this launch of the ad-supported tier, Disney+ is also raising the price of its ad-free plan. So you can get Basic with Ads for $7.99 per month, or get it ad-free for $13.99 per month.
For some, saving $6 per month, and seeing a few ads might be worth the price. Considering there are so many streaming services on the market today, saving money anywhere is definitely nice.
Now what about the bundles? Well, with the addition of this new ad-supported plan, there’s quite a few options for the bundle now. Here’s how they line up.
Duo Basic – Disney+ and Hulu with ads for $9.99 per month
Trio Basic – Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ with ads for $14.99 per month
Trio Premium – Hulu and Disney+ are ad-free, ESPN+ with ads for $24.99 per month.
It’s important to remember that ESPN+ will always be ad-supported since a big part of their library is live sports.
How many ads will Disney+ show with each movie or episode?
So how many ads will you see when watching Disney+ now? According to the company, when it made its Upfront presentation back in May, Disney said it would cap the ads to four minutes per hour on Disney+ Basic with Ads. That’s actually not bad. Typical shows and movies on regular TV average about 15-20 minutes of ads per hour.
If you’re watching children’s programming or using a kids profile, you won’t see ads. This is likely done so that kids aren’t seeing ads that they probably shouldn’t be seeing.
Now while ads are starting out at four minutes per hour of programming, that doesn’t mean it won’t expand. When Hulu first launched, the ads were pretty short, now we’re seeing 3-5 ad-breaks within content.
Will all content be available on the ad-supported tier?
Everything on Disney+ will be available at launch. Unlike Netflix, who has licensing deals with different studios, Disney owns all of the content on Disney+. So that it is able to stream everything it wants on its platform with and without ads.
It’s different over with Netflix because studios will license content for SVOD or AVOD, and typically not both. Netflix is usually licensing for SVOD, since it just added ads this year. So it has had to rework some deals to get AVOD available on its ads plan. The reason for this is, studios want a cut of the ad money brought in from users watching the content, with ads.
Can you skip through or fast-forward through ads?
This will likely come as no surprise, but no, you cannot skip or fast-forward through the ads. This is in order for Disney+ to maximize its revenue through the ads. If it allowed users to skip the ads, then the ads would not get watched. Which means advertisers wouldn’t want to spend money on the platform, and thus render this tier dead.
Disney is cutting users in on the revenue here, by saving them a few bucks each month. Sure it’s only $3 per month, but that does add up to over $36 per year. And with the rising costs in streaming services, that’s not too bad.
Is 4K HDR still available with ads?
Unlike some other services, Disney+ is not limiting 4K HDR to certain plans. Every plan will have 4K HDR, including the Basic with Ads plan. But the important thing to remember here is that not everything is available in 4K HDR. Most of the newer content will be in 4K HDR, and some bigger movies have been remastered into 4K HDR, but there’s going to be a lot of shows that are not in 4K HDR.
Can you download content for watching offline?
Unfortunately, the ability to download content to watch offline is limited to the ad-free plans. This is the case with most streaming services. Partly because you can’t downloads ads to watch offline, so that would be a way to get around watching ads. But the other part being that it’s a feature to help set apart its SVOD and AVOD plans.
Will these ads be targeted?
While Disney has not released any information about how it is going to be personalizing the ad experience, you can rest assured that these ads will be targeted. Companies have found that targeted advertising pays more, and that’s because people are more likely to interact with those ads. And thus make it worthwhile for an advertiser to advertise on a platform.
It should hopefully be better than the ads that we see on Hulu, which are very rarely relevant to the user.
What countries have Disney+ Basic with Ads?
At launch, on December 8, only the US will have the Basic with Ads Disney+ plan. That will change however, as Disney says it will be rolling out to other countries around the world starting in 2023.
Should I sign up for Disney+ Basic with Ads?
So, the big question is whether you should sign up for Disney+ Basic with Ads or not? And well, if you don’t mind a few short ad breaks, it’s worthwhile for you to save a few bucks per month. Four minutes of ads per hour is not bad at all. And does give you a chance to use the bathroom, or get some snacks, while you’re binge-watching the Santa Clauses.
The OnePlus 12 is the company’s upcoming flagship smartphone. It will succeed the OnePlus 11 that originally launched back in January. The OnePlus 12 is expected to bring back some features the OnePlus 11 left out, and in this article, we’ll round up everything we know about the device thus far. You’ll find plenty of links to our news articles over time that talked about the phone, as we’re getting closer to the launch. The article will also be updated regularly with new information, so that you’re always up to date. The phone’s name has already been confirmed, and we’ll share a lot more information about the device below. Having said that, let’s get started.
This article will be regularly updated with new information on the OnePlus 12 (this is a preview article) — both official teasers and credible leaks, rumors, and insider claims — as it becomes available in the run-up to the release of the upcoming Android smartphone. This is the initial publishing of the article, no updates have been made yet.
When will the OnePlus 12 be released?
If you’re wondering when will the OnePlus 12 arrive, well, we still don’t know for sure. Its predecessor launched at the beginning of January in China, and the global launch followed later on. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 launched sooner than expected this year, so that could mean the OnePlus 12 will arrive early, but we haven’t heard anything thus far. We also don’t know if OnePlus is once again planning to do separate launches, or will the global model launch at the same time as the Chinese one. If we had to guess, we’d say that the phone will initially launch in December or January.
What models are coming?
Only one OnePlus 12 variant will arrive, at least based on everything we’ve seen thus far. Before, OnePlus used to release a vanilla model in addition to a ‘Pro’ variant. That was not the case with the last two generations, so chances are the same will be the case with the OnePlus 12. We’ve only been hearing about a single model. The phone is expected to arrive in different RAM and storage setups, though, so you will have some options once it launches. We already know that 12GB and 16GB RAM variants will be available, but an 8GB RAM model could also become a reality. We’ll have to wait and see.
How much will the OnePlus 12 cost?
The OnePlus 12 is said to be more expensive than the OnePlus 11. Why? Well, the phone is not only expected to include a larger battery, but also improved cameras, and wireless charging. All that combined should bump up the phone’s price tag a bit. OnePlus will cut less corners this time around than it did last year, that’s for sure. The OnePlus 11 launched with an outstanding $699 price tag in the US last year. It was considerably more expensive in Europe, though. Well, We may be looking at a $50-$100 price bump in the US this time around, though that’s just a guess. No detailed info surfaced just yet.
What will the OnePlus 12 look like?
At this point in time, we do know what the phone will look like. It won’t differ from its predecessor all that much, to be quite honest. This information is based on CAD-based renders, and an image of the device the company’s CEO showed off. Pete Lau showed off only the front side of the phone, so the rest is filled in by CAD renders. In any case, the phone will have a similar camera oreo on the back, similar to its predecessor. Even the camera layout on the back will be similar, with two camera sensors in the first row, and in the second will sit the third camera, and an LED flash. That camera oreo will protrude on the back, quite a bit.
It will still include a curved display
You can expect glass to be included on the back of the OnePlus 12. There’s a chance that OnePlus will release a vegan leather model. Or, alternatively, a variant with a different material on the back, you never know. OnePlus loves to release special edition phones, so… we’ll see. Chances are that all base models will have glass on the back, though. That glass will be flat for the most part, but it will curve on the sides towards the frame. The display on the device will be curved, despite the fact both Google and Samsung seem to be ditching curved displays. A display camera hole will sit at the top of the phone’s panel, and the bezels will be immensely thin.
Yes, the device will have an alert slider, it will sit above the power button on the right-hand side. The phone was also said to offer a “premium build” in one of the rumors, which is rather vague, but there you have it. That’s all we know thus far, if new design-related information appears, we’ll let you know. Images that surfaced thus far are available below this paragraph.
OnePlus 12 CAD-based images:
OnePlus 12 shown by Pete Lau:
What specs will the OnePlus 12 have?
What about the phone’s specs? Well, the OnePlus 12 will be the company’s new flagship. You’d expect it to have a great spec sheet, and that’s exactly what’s expected here. Plenty of details surfaced thus far, so let’s see what you can expect. Starting with the display, the phone will include a 6.82-inch QHD+ LTPO AMOLED display (1-120Hz) from BOE. This is the brand new X1 display, which becomes immensely bright. At launch, a brightness of 2,600 nits was mentioned. However, a tipster suggests that the panel that was announced can go above and beyond that, maybe even all the way up to 4,000 nits. Perhaps OnePlus is sitting on that information so that it can announce it during the OnePlus 12 launch event. Remember, OnePlus and BOE announced this display together with OPPO, OnePlus’ sister company.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will fuel the device, it has been confirmed
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is confirmed to fuel the OnePlus 12, though that was an easy guess. This is Qualcomm’s brand new flagship processor, and OnePlus always utilizes the latest and greatest Qualcomm has to offer. On top of that, LPDDR5X RAM will be included in the package, as will UFS 4.0 flash storage. The global variant of the phone is expected to offer up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. In China, OnePlus could go all the way up to 24GB, at least based on some rumors. The phone already surfaced on both AnTuTu and Geekbench, by the way. Android 14 will come pre-installed on the device, while OnePlus’ OxygenOS 14 Android skin will sit on top of it.
Hasselblad is back, along with other camera improvements
What about the cameras? Well, Hasselblad will once again be included in the equation, as its color science will be in use here. A 50-megapixel main camera (Sony’s IM966 sensor) is tipped, along with a 48-megapixel ultrawide unit (Sony’s IMX581 sensor). The third camera on the back will be a 64-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom), based on rumors. A 32-megapixel camera is tipped for the phone’s front side.
The phone will be water and dust resistant, and it will even include an IR blaster, something its predecessor did not offer. The OnePlus Open does include it, and it was spotted on the device, so… there you go. A 5,400mAh battery is rumored for the device, a considerably beefier battery than in the OnePlus 11. The phone will support 100W wired charging, and the charger will be included in the box. Unlike the OnePlus 11, the device is also said to support 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging. A “super-large VC” heat dissipation area is also rumored.
Should you wait to buy the OnePlus 12?
Should you buy the OnePlus 12? Well, in the sense that you shouldn’t get the OnePlus 11 and wait for the OnePlus 12, yes, probably, at least to see what the phone will offer. The launch event is only a couple of months away, so you’ll have a better idea then. The phone will not only come with a new SoC, but will offer (fast) wireless charging, better cameras, a noticeably larger battery, and so on. The OnePlus 11 offers outstanding battery life with its 5,000mAh battery. So, it will be interesting to see what will the OnePlus 12 be able to do. On top of that, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is more efficient than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Waiting for this phone may be a good idea. If you don’t really want to get a OnePlus phone, well, there are plenty of good options out there at the moment. Once again, though, many Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phones are coming, so… waiting may not be a bad idea.
If you’re a major AI company, and you want the world to know that your product could change it for the better, the LAST thing you’d want to do is tell people that it could wipe out humanity. However, one person thinks that this is the case. Google Brain co-founder Andrew NG thinks that AI companies are fearmongering for AI dominance, according to a report.
This seems like a counterintuitive ploy. It’s like selling fire extinguishers and telling the public they can burn down your house. Well, Ng believes that companies are doing this, and his argument makes sense.
Fearmongering for AI dominance
Ng spoke to the Australian Financial Review, and he talked about a deceptive practice he believes that companies are doing. He believes that large AI-focused companies are selling the all too prevalent notion that AI will lead to the extinction of humanity.
That way, these companies could trigger strict regulations around AI. In turn, this could make it harder for open-source models to flourish. This could dampen innovation for open-source models and make it harder for smaller companies to enter the AI game.
Also, policies proposed by governmental bodies could lead to companies being required to license AI. That could have a massive impact on the open-source community.
Why open-source is a threat to major companies
Why do people flock to Gimp when Photoshop is there? Why get Maya when Blender is there? It all comes down to accessibility. Gimp and Blender are free programs that are accessible to everyone. Photoshop and Maya, while amazing pieces of software, are expensive. Also, the former have their code available for the community to work on. The latter have their code locked behind a sealed vault.
When it comes to LLMs, open-source LLMs are much more accessible to people. This makes it possible for smaller businesses to incorporate AI technology into their structure without needing a multi-million-dollar investment. Also, the source code is available for the community to contribute to.
This means that people will be more likely to turn to those open-source models in lieu of sources like Bard, ChatGPT, etc. Whether wanting regulation is a ploy by big companies to squash open-source AI remains to be seen.
Owners have reported a display tint issue on the Pixel 8 Pro (image below). If you were concerned that you received a faulty device, there’s no need to worry; Google has acknowledged the problem and is working on a solution in an upcoming Android release.
The tinting problem seems to occur primarily at very low brightness levels when the 1Hz refresh rate is used. To test this issue on your Pixel 8 Pro, enable the Always On Display, go to a dark room, and wait for the screen to drop the refresh rate to 1Hz. Users have reported noticing uneven color banding, with text appearing with a pink or yellowish tint.
A temporary solution to the display tint issue of the Pixel 8 Pro
Some users have found a temporary workaround to the tint problem. Forcing the Always On Display to work at a 120Hz refresh rate or increasing the brightness. However, these solutions come at a cost. Higher brightness or refresh rates can lead to increased power consumption, potentially affecting the device’s battery life.
Some speculate that the tinting issue may be linked to the Pixel 8 Pro’s AMOLED panel, which might lack 100% grayscale uniformity (via Android Police). This could lead individual red, green, and blue pixels to dominate other colors, especially at lower brightness and refresh rates.
Google is working on a proper solution for the tinted display issue. An OTA update is on its way.
A Pixel 8 user initially reported the problem on the Android public tracker. More users subsequently confirmed experiencing the tinting issue with the Always On Display. Google has officially marked the problem as resolved. The company assured users about a future Android release to contain the fix for the display tint issue.
The upcoming November 2023 security patch for the Pixel devices might include this fix, but if the build was finalized before the issue was patched, Pixel 8 users might have to wait until the December Pixel Feature Drop for the fix. Google might release the fix as part of a new Android 14 QPR1 beta version.
However, this is not the first time Google’s Pixel phones have experienced display issues. The Pixel 4 XL previously had problems with green tint at low brightness levels, which Google eventually addressed with a software update.
While AI has proven to be pretty smart so far, it’s still not as smart as a human being. We’re still far from that point, but there are people who believe that it’s closer than we think. According to Google’s AI chief, there’s a 50/50 shot that AI could reach the AGI level (Artificial General Intelligence), and it could happen sooner than we think.
Right now, there’s a lot of fear surrounding AI. However, if they’re afraid of AI, then they don’t want to know what AGI is. Basically, AGI is an AI that’s just as smart as a human. Modern AI chatbots like ChatGPT are great at regurgitating information presented to you. Even if you’re generating a story (a bit of media that requires critical thinking and artistic abilities), it still doesn’t represent true human intelligence.
Google’s AI chief still believes that there’s a 50/50 shot at achieving AGI in the near future
Back in 2011, Google’s current AI chief and DeepMind co-founder Shane Legg publically stated that there’s a 50% chance that AI will progress to AGI within the next couple of decades. Now, more than a decade later, he hasn’t budged from that stance.
He was the guest on an interview with Dwarkesh Patel (via Futurism), and he expressed his thoughts on AGI and when we could expect to reach that point of development. While he stated his stance back in 2011, his interest for AI goes back yet another decade when he read 1999’s “The Age of Spiritual Machines”. He pointed to two main points in the book that really spoke to him. “One is that computational power would grow exponentially for at least a few decades. And that the quantity of data in the world would grow exponentially for a few decades.”
The book was not wrong in that regard, as the amount of data being produced every day is growing as each day goes on.
Difficulties with achieving AGI
He predicted that AGI would be upon us by the end of this decade, but he later said that this might not be the case. One thing holding it back is the fact that it’s hard to really define what human intelligence is. That’s such a vague concept. “You’ll never have a complete set of everything that people can do,”
This is true; what separates your intelligence from the AI in the phone you’re reading this article on? That’s tough to know. Legg also talked about testing an AI to see if it’s as smart as a human being. He said that there wouldn’t be one singular test to see if an AI is smart enough.
Another point Legg brought up was the fact that we won’t really be able to scale up AI models to push an AI into AGI territory. Right now, the AI models powering current chatbots are absolutely gargantuan in size. They’re unimaginably big, but they’re not big enough to create a true AGI, according to Legg.
So, how will we achieve this technology?
Right now, Legg believes that we’re on track to being able to create an AGI; it’s a matter of what we train our models with. He thinks that companies should “start training models now with the scale of the data that is beyond what a human can experience in a lifetime“. That’s a tall ask, but he believes that it’s achievable.
Right now, as we wait to see if humanity will create the first AGI, companies are still working on making their AI smarter. Right now, AI poses a threat to many parts of the tech industry, so let’s hope that AGI won’t be even worse.
Cybercriminals are resorting to unscrupulous tactics to deploy Bonanza malware by exploiting Google Search Ads.
The hackers are taking advantage of the search engine’s advertising mechanism to spread the malicious software, putting unsuspecting users at risk of cyber attacks.
This underhanded technique highlights the need for increased vigilance and caution when browsing the internet, particularly when clicking on ads.
Hackers abuse Google Search Ads to deploy malware because it allows them to reach a wide audience quickly.
By disguising malicious links as legitimate ads, they can trick users into clicking on them, leading to malware downloads or phishing attempts.
Additionally, Google’s vast user base offers a broad target audience for their attacks. Cybersecurity researchers at Malwarebytes recently identified that hackers are actively abusing Google Search Ads to deploy “Bonanza” malware.
Dynamic Search Ads Delivers Bonanza
Malvertising often stems from injected or intentionally created ads. But, recently, accidental malvertising occurred due to two key factors:-
Compromised website
Google Dynamic Search Ads
Without the site owner’s knowledge, a rogue ad for Python developers led to a hacked page, offering the application for download but installing over a dozen malware pieces.
A wedding planning website with customer testimonials got injected with malware and was found to be changing titles and adding overlays promoting software serial keys, like Pycharm.
PyCharm Serial Key (Source – Malwarebytes)
Google’s Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) auto-generate ads from website content, convenient for advertisers but susceptible to abuse if the site’s content is altered without the owner’s knowledge, leading to misleading ads.
Dynamic Search Ads (Source – Malwarebytes)
Returning to the investigation’s origin, a Google search for ‘pycharm’ displayed an ad with a mismatch between its title (developer software) and description (wedding planning).
Google Ads created this ad from the hacked page, making the website owner an unwitting victim paying for the malicious ad.
Malicious Ad (Source – Malwarebytes)
Searchers clicking the ad’s headline for PyCharm could get redirected to the compromised page with the download link.
Running the installer floods your computer with malware, making it useless. Inexperienced criminals load software for commissions, but it’s not a subtle attack.
This unusual incident may have gone unnoticed by the website hackers. Compromised sites are monetized in various ways, and detecting this is tricky, as the ads seem legit.
Recommendations
Here below, we have mentioned all the recommendations offered by the researchers:-
Stay cautious with ads.
Don’t download cracked software.
Regularly check the landing pages linked to your ads.
Secure your Google Ads account with 2FA to prevent unauthorized access and changes to your campaigns.
Keep up-to-date with the latest developments in online advertising and cybersecurity.
Configure email alerts for your Google Ads account to receive notifications of unusual activity or policy violations.
Protect yourself from vulnerabilities using Patch Manager Plus to patch over 850 third-party applications quickly. Try a free trial to ensure 100% security.
Samsung has released a new update for the Galaxy S23 FE. While it isn’t yet time for Android 14 for the phone, it is getting the latest, October 2023 security patch. The new Android version should be available soon too, with One UI 6.0 on top.
Galaxy S23 FE gets its second software update
Samsung launched the Galaxy S23 FE early in October. Following the initial release in India and a few other markets, the device arrived in the US last week. In the interim, the company rolled out an update for the phone. It brought some system reliability and functional improvements.
The Galaxy S23 FE is now picking up its second software update. The latest release is more basic and only brings this month’s security fixes. According to Samsung’s official changelog, the new update comes with the firmware build number S711BXXS1AWJ6. As of this writing, the rollout seems to be limited to the Exynos version of the phone. The Snapdragon version, which was sold in the US, should join the party soon.
If you’re one of the early buyers of the Galaxy S23 FE, watch out for this update in the coming days. You can manually check for it from the Software update menu in the Settings app. The October SMR (Security Maintenance Release) for Galaxy devices patches more than 40 vulnerabilities, at least two of which are critical security flaws. Installing this update will keep your phone safe from these vulnerabilities.
The new FE phone from Samsung will get updates up to Android 17
Like the three flagship models, the FE (Fan Edition) Galaxy S23 will also get four major Android OS updates. It arrives with Android 13 and will pick up updates to Android 14, Android 15, Android 16, and Android 17. The phone is also eligible for five years of security patches. Debuted in October 2023, it should receive security updates at least until September 2028.
Samsung has already started pushing the stable Android 14 update to eligible models. The Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra received it first. Other devices, including the Galaxy S23 FE, will follow suit soon. The company recently released new One UI 6.0 beta builds for the Galaxy S22 series and the Galaxy Z Fold 5. These phones may be the next in the pipeline.
As usual, Samsung should soon reveal its Android 14 update plan for all eligible models in each market. It may publish a roadmap on the Samsung Members app. If you’re using a Galaxy phone, watch out for the roadmap to check when your phone will receive the big Android update with One UI 6.0
