Google Plans To Roll Out IP Protection Feature In Chrome Browser

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Google Plans To Roll Out IP Protection Feature In Chrome Browser
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Taking a step ahead to protect users’ privacy, Google has now decided to test a new IP protection feature in its Chrome browser. This feature will hide users’ real IP addresses, allowing them to evade unwanted online tracking.

Google Chrome To Feature IP Protection

Reportedly, Google is now testing a new IP Protection feature with its Chrome browser. According to the details available on GitHub, the tech tests the new feature in a bid to protect users’ privacy from intrusive online tracking by hiding their IP addresses.

IP addresses play a vital role in the online profiling of internet users. Sites can track users across the web, logging and analyzing their browsing habits and preferences, damaging their privacy. Unlike cookies, users can not even opt out of such tracking unless they use proxy services or VPNs to mask their IP addresses.

However, these services often draw negative attention from governments due to their potential abuse. Also, the legit VPNs and proxies are often expensive for home users. While their free counterparts are available, they aren’t reliable enough to protect users’ data.

Therefore, having a direct setting within the browser can help the users protect their privacy without threatening the web’s functionality. With this in view, Google launched the IP Protection feature as an opt-in feature with some limitations.

How Does This Feature Work?

Describing the functionalities, Google stated two aspects – to hide clients’ original IP from the destination origin, and to hide the traffic from network intermediaries.

To achieve these goals, Google redirects all traffic through the Privacy Proxy. Explaining how this works, Google stated,

This will use CONNECT and CONNECT-UDP (with MASQUE), to forward traffic. There is an end-to-end encrypted tunnel via TLS, from Chrome to the destination server.
We are considering using 2 hops for improved privacy. A second proxy would be run by an external CDN, while Google runs the first hop. This ensures that neither proxy can see both the client IP address and the destination. CONNECT & CONNECT-UDP support chaining of proxies.

While this potentially veils the user from the internet, Google does not want legal conflicts, for example, regarding geo-restrictions. Hence, the newly assigned IPs will still reflect the users’ rough location, such as the country, to comply with the local laws.

Besides, Google also mandates user authentication with rate limitations to prevent the potential abuse of IP Protection.

Specifically, users can sign in to their Google accounts via Chrome browser to enable IP Protection. To begin with the initial “Phase 0,” only users from the United States (or with US IPs) can access this feature. Also, it will currently function for Google’s own domains only, allowing the tech giant to improvise the feature as needed.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


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Nothing Phone (2) can now be purchased from Amazon too

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Nothing Phone (2) can now be purchased from Amazon too
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The Nothing Phone (2) was announced back in July, and that’s also when it became available to purchase. The device was available directly from the company, but not via Amazon. Well, the Nothing Phone (2) is now available to purchase from Amazon too.

The Nothing Phone (2) can now be purchased from Amazon as well

If you’re interested, you should know that it’s available in two versions. Both of them include 12GB of RAM, but offer different storage flavors, 256GB and 512GB. The 256GB model costs $699, while the 512GB storage flavor is priced at $760.

Both of those models are available in two colors, actually. The standard black color is joined by the white model too. The purchase link is included below the article, in case you’d like to get one.

The Nothing Phone (2) comes with a see-through glass on the back, and its well-known Glyph interface (lights). It ships with Android 13, and the company’s Nothing OS 2.0 on top of it.

This phone’s specs are nothing to scoff at, quite the contrary

The phone is fueled by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, while a 4,700mAh battery is also a part of the package. It supports 45W wired charging, 15W wireless charging, and 5W reverse wireless charging.

On the front, you’ll find a 6.7-inch fullHD+ flat display, with a display camera hole on it. That display also supports a 120Hz refresh rate, and it’s an LTPO OLED panel. The bezels on the phone are very thin, and the sides are flat. The device is made out of metal and glass.

A 50-megapixel main camera is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit. A single 32-megapixel camera is included on the front. The phone also offers a set of stereo speakers. An in-display fingerprint scanner is a part of the package as well.

If you’d like to grab the Nothing Phone (2), a purchase link is included below.

Buy the Nothing Phone (2) (Amazon)


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Snapchat crosses 400 million users, 5 million paid subscribers

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Snapchat crosses 400 million users, 5 million paid subscribers
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Snapchat has crossed 400 million daily active users (DAUs) globally. The social media app had 406 million DAUs at the end of September 2023, the company announced in its earnings report for the third quarter of the year. It added nine million new users during the three months and 43 million since September 2022. Its paid subscription service, called Snapchat+, also reached five million users last month.

Snapchat posts positive revenue growth as users increase globally

Snapchat has been operating at a loss lately. While its losses narrowed by around 11 percent YoY in the second quarter of the year, the company couldn’t keep up the pace in the third quarter. The company reported a two percent increase in net loss this past quarter. Its net loss for the period was $368 million, compared to $360 million in the same period last year.

However, on the bright side, Snapchat saw its revenue grow in Q3 2023. The firm posted a total revenue of $1,189 million during the period. That marks a five percent YoY growth from $1,128 million in the previous year. Its revenue declined almost four percent YoY in Q2 2023, so it appears to be on track to return to profitability. CEO Evan Spiegel says Snapchat’s “reprioritized cost structure demonstrated the leverage in our business model.”

“We are focused on improving our advertising platform to drive higher return on investment for our advertising partners, and we have evolved our go-to-market efforts to better serve our partners and drive customer success.,” Spiegel added. Snapchat has also implemented several cost-cutting measures over the past year or so. It laid off 20 percent of its global workforce last year to reduce operational costs.

Snapchat+, the company’s $4-a-month subscription service launched last year, has been a key growth driver of its non-advertising sources of revenue. The service unlocks additional features such as custom app icons, story rewatch, exclusive badges, priority replies, custom notification sounds, and more. Subscribers also get early access to new experimental features on Snapchat.

Snapchat’s COO is retiring

In its latest earnings report, Snapchat revealed that its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Jerry Hunter, is retiring. Hunter joined the company seven years ago and played a key part in building the company’s “engineering and business structures.” His duties and responsibilities will be gradually transitioned starting this month, with the transition completed by July 1, 2024.

“I am deeply grateful to Jerry for the meaningful contributions he has made over his many years at Snap,” said Evan Spiegel. “His work to improve our advertising platform, serve our community, and build a strong team has helped lay the foundation for our future growth.”


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APT Winter Vivern Exploits New Roundcube 0-Day to Target European Entities

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APT Winter Vivern Exploits New Roundcube 0-Day to Target European Entities
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The new 0-Day vulnerability was actively exploited by the Winter Vivern cyberespionage group before its discovery and subsequent patch by Roundcube, a web-based IMAP email client, with ESET’s report.

The Russian cyberespionage group Winter Vivern (aka TA473, and UAC-0114), known for its persistent attacks on European and Central Asian governments, has once again made headlines. ESET, a Slovak cybersecurity firm, has recently revealed the group’s utilization of a 0-day (zero-day) cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Roundcube Webmail server, signaling an alarming escalation in their tactics.

ESET researchers, who have been closely monitoring Winter Vivern’s activities for over a year, discovered the exploitation of this new vulnerability on October 11th, 2023. This XSS vulnerability, identified as CVE-2023-5631, allowed attackers to remotely compromise Roundcube Webmail servers, a popular email platform.

Notably, this vulnerability is distinct from CVE-2020-35730, a previously exploited flaw by the same group, as outlined in ESET’s research.

Targeted Entities

The campaign orchestrated by Winter Vivern focused on Roundcube Webmail servers belonging to governmental entities and a think tank, all situated within Europe. This is in line with the group’s primary objective of targeting government institutions and organizations in Europe and Central Asia.

Modus Operandi

Winter Vivern is infamous for employing a variety of tactics to infiltrate their targets, including the use of malicious documents, phishing websites, and a custom PowerShell backdoor. While there is a low level of confidence, ESET researchers suggest a potential connection between Winter Vivern and MoustachedBouncer, a Belarus-aligned group.

Since at least 2022, as reported by Hackread.com, Winter Vivern has been known to target Zimbra and Roundcube email servers owned by governmental entities. Additionally, the group exploited CVE-2020-35730, another XSS vulnerability in Roundcube, in August and September 2023.

It is worth mentioning that Winter Vivern is not the only threat actor exploiting Roundcube vulnerabilities. Sednit (also known as APT28) has been seen using the same XSS vulnerability in Roundcube, occasionally targeting the same victims.

The Exploited Vulnerability (CVE-2023-5631)

This XSS vulnerability, according to ESET’s blog post, could be exploited remotely by sending a specially crafted email message. In this particular campaign, the emails were sent from the address team.managment@outlookcom with the subject line “Get started in your Outlook.”

The malicious email appeared ordinary at first glance, but upon examining the HTML source code, a concealed SVG tag containing a base64-encoded payload was revealed. The payload was concealed within the onerror attribute of an image tag in the SVG. When decoded, this payload led to the execution of JavaScript code in the victim’s browser.

Surprisingly, the JavaScript injection worked even on fully patched Roundcube instances. The vulnerability was traced back to the server-side script rcube_washtml.php, which did not adequately sanitize the malicious SVG document before incorporating it into the HTML page interpreted by the user.

ESET researchers reported the issue to Roundcube, and the vulnerability was patched promptly on October 14th, 2023. The affected Roundcube versions include 1.6.x before 1.6.4, 1.5.x before 1.5.5, and 1.4.x before 1.4.15.

APT Winter Vivern Exploits New Roundcube 0-Day to Target European Entities
The malicious email (ESET)

Implications and Conclusion

Winter Vivern’s transition to a 0-day vulnerability is a clear indication of their determination to infiltrate high-value targets. Despite the group’s relatively unsophisticated toolset, they remain a significant threat to European governments. Their success can be attributed to their persistent phishing campaigns and the prevalence of outdated, vulnerable applications used by targeted organizations.

In response to ESET’s discovery, the Roundcube team acted swiftly to address the vulnerability. A disclosure timeline reveals that the vulnerability was reported on October 12, and the necessary patches were released just two days later, ensuring the security of Roundcube Webmail servers.

ESET Research commended the Roundcube developers for their rapid response and collaboration in resolving the issue. It is vital that organizations and government entities keep their software up to date to mitigate the risk of such attacks in the future.

  1. ProtonMail Code Vulnerabilities Leaked Emails
  2. APTs Exploiting WinRAR 0day Flaw Despite Patch Availability
  3. Email Hacking Reigns as Top Cybersecurity Threat, Indusface Study
  4. Russian Hackers Employ Telekopye Toolkit in Broad Phishing Attacks
  5. Mozilla Rushes to Fix Critical Vulnerability in Firefox and Thunderbird
  6. EvilProxy Phishing Kit Targets Microsoft Users via Indeed.com Vulnerability

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Kickstarter Murena 2 phone comes with physical privacy switches

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Kickstarter Murena 2 phone comes with physical privacy switches
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In this day and age, where threat actors continue to find new ways to invade our privacy and gain unauthorized access, implementing robust security measures is more important than ever. However, what if your phone could do it all for you? That’s the goal of the Murena 2 phone, which features privacy switches to prevent hacks and breaches.

According to the Kickstarter campaign, which has already raised an impressive $163,640 at the time of writing, the Murena 2 phone will include two physical privacy switches. These switches will not only enable users to interrupt the circuitry governing the phone’s camera and microphone but also allow them to disable connectivity entirely. This ensures that remote hackers and onboard malicious apps cannot transfer any data, even if they have explicit access.

Priced at around $499, £429, or AU$829 when it hits the market, the phone will run on custom privacy-focused open-source /e/OS software, which is completely devoid of Google apps, offering a significant advantage to users concerned about privacy. Additionally, the device comes equipped with multiple privacy features, such as IP address hiding and app tracker blocking.

Furthermore, the phone also links to Murena Cloud, a private online vault designed to safeguard photos, videos, and other files. However, for users who require access to additional apps, the phone includes an App Lounge marketplace. And, although these apps are sourced from Google Play, the phone allows anonymous access to the app stores, thus preventing unnecessary tracking.

Specifications

When talking about the specs, the Murena 2 phone features a 6.43-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080, a Helio P70 chip with 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of onboard storage. In terms of cameras, the phone comes equipped with a triple-lens camera setup comprising 64MP + 13MP + 5MP lenses.

For users looking to purchase the phone, it’s important to note that, like any other Kickstarter project, there is no guarantee of success. This is because only 1 in 10 projects that successfully complete their funding are able to deliver on their products, leaving many investors without the product they initially backed. However, considering the fact that the company successfully launched Murena One, it suggests they already have the necessary manufacturing processes in place.


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Details of Apple’s M3 iMac Emerge ahead of its ‘Scary Fast’ event next week

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Details of Apple’s M3 iMac Emerge ahead of its ‘Scary Fast’ event next week
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Yesterday, Apple sent out invites for one more event this year, which will take place on October 30. Many are still scratching their heads about the timing, since it is taking place at 5PM PT on October 30. Apple has never done an event that late, it is almost always at 10AM PT. Though the tagline ‘Scary Fast’ makes sense, since it’s the day before Halloween.

Now, we’re starting to get a few more details about what to expect at this event. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is back with more details on what we’re seeing at this event. Which includes a new iMac based on the M3 chipset. If this does happen, this would be the first time that Apple has debuted a new chipset without a new MacBook Air.

As Gurman has said previously, Apple doesn’t like to announce the MacBook Air and iMac together, since their customers overlap. So if we get an iMac next week (which it is very outdated at this point), it’s unlikely we’d get a new MacBook Air too.

What’s new in iMac?

So what changes are we expecting with the new iMac powered by M3? According to Gurman, not much. The biggest change will be the processor, going from M1 to M3, which in itself will be a pretty major change for iMac users. Since the M1 came out back in 2020.

There’s no other changes expected, but the internal stand design has been tweaked slightly. And colors are also expected to remain the same this time around. Currently, the iMac is available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver. So this would also mean that we likely won’t be getting a larger size. There’s been some talk about Apple debuting a larger iMac, like a 32-inch model. But that doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon.

There could also be other Mac’s announced at this event, possibly an updated MacBook Pro 13-inch, though many in the media believe that model should be killed off, since it is so similar to the MacBook Air, in a much older body.


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Pebble app is shutting down, meaning less competition for X

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Pebble app is shutting down, meaning less competition for X
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After Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the Pebble app (formerly known as T2 Social) and other platforms came up to steal the crowd. However, while making waves for a few months after going live, the Pebble app is shutting down. This news will bring tears to users who have grown to love the app, hence viewing it as a worthy X competitor.

Ever since its conception till this point, this social media platform has undergone a ton of changes and improvements. One of such changes and improvements that this platform has seen is the change of its name. Previously, this platform was known as T2 Social, and it offered verified Twitter users their blue badges after losing it to X Premium.

Some users saw something good in this platform and hoped it would become an X competitor. However, despite these expectations, Pebble is not performing well, which is one reason why the app is shutting down. Even though this social media platform is closing, the owners assure fans that Pebble will be back in no time.

X will now need to focus their attention on other competing platforms as the Pebble app is shutting down

A few months ago, unsatisfied X users were looking for platforms to share their ideas and socialize. This search was a result of the changes that have been made to X, some of which some users were not happy about. This search led to the birth of lots of social media platforms competing with X.

Pebble, formerly known as T2 Social, was one of the platforms available to suck in migrating Twitter users. In other, to attract users over to the party, Pebble promised to give back their Twitter verification tick. While this promise was effective at first, it didn’t secure the platform’s growth.

Now the platform is shutting down as a result of their lack to make investors believe in you. Additionally, this platform has to face a lot of other well-established social media companies in other to gain traffic. For this reason, its funders are going to have to head over to the drawing board and come up with something special.

The owners of this platform believe that the Pebble app will relaunch shortly. At the moment, the reconstruction of this platform is ongoing. However, there is a need for previous users of this platform to get their information out before the app shuts down. Users have the opportunity to log in to the platform and download their personal achieves before it finally shuts down. X, on its part, has one less social media platform to worry about, but there are still lots more to keep them company for a while.


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Elon Musk offers $1 billion to Wikipedia for name change to ‘Dickipedia’

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Elon Musk offers $1 billion to Wikipedia for name change to ‘Dickipedia’
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Elon Musk has started a feud with Wikipedia. The billionaire said he would give $1 billion to the encyclopedia website if it changes its name to “Dickipedia” for at least one year.

Over the weekend, Musk first blamed Wikipedia and its parent company, Wikimedia Foundation, over the bias of its higher-ranking editors and asking for donations. The X owner tweeted, “Have you ever wondered why the Wikimedia Foundation wants so much money? It certainly isn’t needed to operate Wikipedia. You can literally fit a copy of the entire text on your phone!”

While Musk decided to mock Wikipedia, he probably doesn’t know that the Wikimedia Foundation spent over $2.7 million last year to host the encyclopedia website. Wikipedia is a free platform for everyone, and there’s no shame in asking for donations. On the other hand, the reports show X has lost over 600 million visitors in September.

Elon Musk trolls Wikipedia and offers $1 billion for changing the name

Wikipedia is traditionally known as a source of information for many people. However, Musk allegedly disagrees and believes X is a more reliable source of news and opinions. The billionaire tweeted that X Community Notes consists of people with historically different points of view who review notes and approve them for public view. “Crucially, even I, as the controlling shareholder of the company, cannot change the outcome of a Note,” Musk added.

Another thing that might have led to Musk’s feud with Wikipedia is a report by NewsGuard. The report said most of the disinformation on X about the Israel-Hamas conflict comes from verified accounts. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is an adviser to NewsGuard.

In a statement to PCMag, the Wikimedia Foundation said, “Wikipedia is the only website among the top 10 most-visited global websites that is run by a nonprofit.” The statement adds the foundation spends most of the donations on improving the Wikipedia website and keeping up the free knowledge mission. To put X on blast, the Wikimedia Foundation noted they don’t charge a subscription fee and don’t sell user data.

The latest report by the Wikimedia Foundation shows the institution generated $154 million in revenue in 2022. However, they aalso spent $146 on expenses. Engineering improvements and product development account for 43% of the costs. Another 32% is spent on paying grants, projects, and tools.


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Meta “disappointed” in a federal lawsuit over depression in kids linked to Instagram

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Meta “disappointed” in a federal lawsuit over depression in kids linked to Instagram
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The attorneys general of 33 states – including California and New York – filed a complaint in the Oakland federal court; they are suing Meta and particularly the Instagram unit.

Reuters has the story: the states’ accusations involve claims that Meta is fueling a youth mental health crisis by making their social media platforms addictive.

The attorneys general said Meta repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use.

“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens,” according to the complaint filed in the Oakland, California federal court. “Its motive is profit.”

Not everything is about money


For years, there’ve been criticisms over dubious social media practices and the way they affect kids at fragile and impressionable ages.

There’s more to that, though – the states that filed the lawsuit said research has associated children’s use of Meta’s social media platforms with “depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes”.

Meta said it was “disappointed” in the lawsuit: “Instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,” the company said.

“Meta did not disclose that its algorithms were designed to capitalize on young users’ dopamine responses and create an addictive cycle of engagement,” the complaint said and reminded that last year, Meta distanced itself from a 14-year-old girl’s suicide in the UK, after she was allegedly exposed on Instagram to content about suicide and self-injury.


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Xiaomi 14 color options & SoC confirmed a day early

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Xiaomi 14 color options & SoC confirmed a day early
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The Xiaomi 14 series will launch tomorrow, October 26, and the color options of these phones have just been confirmed. That information was confirmed during the Qualcomm Summit 2023, where the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was announced.

First and foremost, Qualcomm confirmed that the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro will be fueled by its new processor. In fact, the company confirmed that these phones will be the first to utilize that chip.

The Xiaomi 14 color options got confirmed during Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 launch

On stage, the Xiaomi 14 was shown off, from the back, in all of its color options. If you check out the image below, you’ll see what I mean. The phone is coming in black, pink, white, and green color options.

Xiaomi 14 color options confirmed

Xiaomi could have different names for these colors, but that’s what they look like. Also, it says ‘Xiaomi 14’ here, but it’s possible both smartphones will share these color options, at least most of them.

Xiaomi also shared more images of the green Xiaomi 14 variant

The design of the Xiaomi 14 series is not exactly a secret at this point. CAD-based renders surfaced, and Xiaomi even confirmed the design recently. The company shared some images of the white model yesterday, and now the green variant also got shared. You can see Xiaomi’s official images in the gallery below.

The Xiaomi 14 series will have a rectangular camera island on the back. Leica will be a part of the picture, once again, and the frame will be flat all around. The two devices will look the same, but the regular Xiaomi 14 will be smaller.

Xiaomi will also use a new Leica Summilux lens on the devices, which was announced recently. The Xiaomi 14 series will launch in China tomorrow, while the global event will follow either later this year, or in Q1 2024.


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