EA Sports Has Been Hacked: Hackers Claim To Have Stolen 780 GB Of Source Code For Games And Tools, Including FIFA 21

June 11, 2021

As with CD Projekt Red, now EA Sports has suffered data theft by hackers. Hackers claim to have stolen 780 gigabytes of source code from EA, including that of the Frostbite engine and FIFA 21. According to the publisher, player data was not accessed. But the theft also affects them.

How much data was stolen is not entirely clear. Vice reports on the basis of screenshots from partly private forums that hackers claim to have stolen 780 gigabytes of data. They are offered for sale. In addition to the source code of FIFA 21, code for matchmaking as well as EA frameworks and SDKs should also be included.

This attack comes just after the company announced an upcoming title in this series, Battlefield: 2042.

The theft has been confirmed by EA itself. The hackers have boasted of this event in cybercriminal forums. EA has confirmed to Vice that the data the hackers claimed to have stolen matched the stolen data. According to a statement from EA, the company is “investigating a recent incident of intrusion into our network where a limited amount of game source code and related tools were stolen.“

EA assures that “No player data was accessed,” and they believe that there is no reason to “believe there is any risk to player privacy.” They have already taken action and made “security improvements and do not expect an impact on our games or our business.”

Shortly after the attack, hackers posted screenshots demonstrating their access to EA Sports systems. None of the aforementioned internal data has been published, although according to Vice sources, they are already trying to sell this information, which could lead to many problems for the company.

WebExtensions Community Group: Google, Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla Join Forces To Unify Extensions

Adwaith

June 11, 2021

Google, Microsoft, Apple and Mozilla are the companies behind the main web browsers. Now, they have driven the creation of the WebExtensions Community Group (WECG) with a clear goal — making extension creation easier for developers along with enhancing its performance and security.

After sheathing the weapon of healthy competition, the WECG has issued a statement — “With multiple browsers adopting a broadly compatible model for extensions in the last few years, the WECG is excited to explore how browser vendors and other interested parties can work together to advance a common browser extension platform.”

Their objectives are clear, and they divide them into two branches. First, to facilitate the process of creating extensions for developers by providing a coherent model and a common core of functionalities, APIs and permissions. And second, create an architecture that improves performance and is even more secure and resistant to abuse.

“Our work will be guided by a common set of HTML and W3C TAG design principles: user-centered, compatibility, performance, security, privacy, portability, maintainability, and well-defined behavior.” The intention of WECG is not to start from scratch, something that would be really expensive for both browser and extension developers.

They want to use the existing extension model and APIs supported by Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Safari as a foundation. And from there, go forward. “We aim to identify common ground, bring implementations into closer alignment, and chart a course for future evolution.”

This declaration of intent has also been accompanied by a clarification on what WECG will not do in the matter. “We are not aiming to specify every aspect of the web extensions platform or existing implementations. We want browsers to keep innovating and shipping APIs that may serve as the basis for further improvement of the web extensions platform. Each browser vendor will continue to operate their extension store fully independently, with their own technical, review, and editorial policies.”

Huawei’s HarmonyOS 2.0 Is Already Used By Over 10 Million Users

Vishak

June 11, 2021

Only on June 2, Huawei introduced HarmonyOS 2.0 and the first devices with its support. And according to recent reports, over 10 million users are already using HarmonyOS 2.0 in China.

Quite an achievement shortly after it had launched its availability. Huawei celebrated this event with cakes, one of which looks very themed.

If everything goes like this, this Huawei operating system, launched in the heat of the bans carried out by the United States and Google, could be a real alternative to Android and even iOS.

Although we have to take a good look at the reason behind such an achievement in such a short time. In China, most of Google’s services are blocked, so users don’t have many alternatives.

And then, HarmonyOS is not going to remain as a mere operating system for mobile devices, but thanks to the fact that it can be installed in systems of few kilobytes — it will reach a wide range of all kinds of connected products. Huawei expects that by the end of the year 360 million devices will be running HarmonyOS, and the plan for next year looks absolutely fantastic — 12.3 billion devices.

At the moment, HarmonyOS 2.0 is available mainly for smartphones of the Mate 40, P40, Mate 30 series. However, it is also used in the MatePad Pro tablets. According to the latest data, internal beta testing of HarmonyOS 2.0 for Huawei P30, Honor 30 and Honor V30 will begin this month, and a public beta for these smartphones will be released in July. Also, with Huawei P50 company will bring HarmonyOS 2.0 globally.

TikTok And WeChat Will Not Be Blocked In The United States

Vishak

June 10, 2021

United States President Joe Biden revoked the executive orders issued by his predecessor Donald Trump against the Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat.

In this way, the White House puts an end to months with permanent twists and turns on this issue. In any case, both TikTok and WeChat must meet certain requirements to remain active in the US. According to The Wall Street Journal, Biden signed a new executive order requiring them to undergo security reviews.

The new executive order signed by Biden indicates that the US Department of Commerce should periodically evaluate APPs developed by companies in foreign nations that are considered adversaries, such as China, intervening if the review process highlights problems related to US national security.

According to the Biden administration, the measure establishes guidelines for an “evidence-based” study on how user information is managed and whether there are any risks to it.

Donald Trump threatened to block TikTok’s operations in the United States at the beginning of August 2020. Days later, he signed executive orders that suspended the operation of both TikTok and WeChat (from Tencent) in the United States.

With Biden’s decision, TikTok and WeChat are taking a huge weight off their shoulders. In any case, Chinese applications will be far from having free rein to operate under the supervision of the White House.

El Salvador Become The First Country To Adopt Bitcoin As Its Official Currency

Avinash A

June 10, 2021

The small country El Salvador in Central America has become the first country in the world to embrace Bitcoin as legal tender.

The Salvadoran parliament today approved a law establishing the new status of cryptocurrency. Residents can now pay their taxes with Bitcoin. And entrepreneurs with access to the necessary technology are no longer allowed to refuse payments with cryptocurrency.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced the plan last weekend and is expected to enact the law this Wednesday morning. The idea, according to him, is to increase the dynamism of the economy and make the country more attractive to investors. President Nayib Bukele described the result of the vote as “Historic!” and sees benefits for the “financial inclusion, investment, tourism, innovation and economic development” of his country.

This is the first time that the cryptocurrency is recognized as an official legal tender. The main currency of El Salvador so far is the US dollar. After the Central American country announced its decision to use Bitcoin as legal tender, the price of a Bitcoin rose by almost 15 percent to $ 38,500.

Samsung Presents Stretchable OLED Display, Ensure Elasticity Of 30 Percent Of The Original State

Avinash A

June 9, 2021

Researchers from Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) have unveiled a stretchable OLED panel. The small display was built into a blood pressure monitor that is worn like a large plaster on the inner surface of the arm.

According to scientists, the display can be stretched by up to 30 percent of its original size without breaking. This is made possible by a base material based on elastomers. This has been chemically developed by Samsung in such a way that it is less sensitive to heat — which is important when electronic components such as semiconductors are installed on it.

In addition to the OLED screen, a photoplethysmographic sensor for measuring blood pressure is built into the elastomer. Due to the elastic design, the device should be able to be worn on the arm for a longer period of time.

According to Samsung, it also records the heartbeat 2.4 times more than a conventionally attached sensor. The measurement should also be more precise because the sensor cannot move as much on the skin.

To prevent the OLED pixels from deforming when they move, the scientists’ built-in so-called island structures. These electrodes between the pixels are also stretchable and are intended to take the strain caused by deformations on the OLED elements.

According to Samsung, research on stretchable OLED panels is still at an early stage. The South Korean manufacturer has been a leader in the field of foldable OLED screens for several years.

Private Relay: Apple Wants To Protect Safari Users From Tracking Via A Kind Of VPN

Adwaith

June 9, 2021

At its developer conference, WWDC 2021, the manufacturer Apple presented a kind of integrated VPN for its Safari browser. Apple simply calls the function itself Private Relay and is supposed to offer exactly what the name promises — your own browser traffic should be forwarded via Apple servers, among other things, so that third parties can no longer recognize its origin.

With the private relay, all traffic from the browser is first sent to the Apple servers in order to first detach the network traffic there from the IP addresses of the users. Apple then forwards the data to a third-party provider, who in turn assigns different temporary IP addresses and sends the data to the selected target server. The solution of the two servers is to avoid that Apple can link the information about individual users with the web pages they have surfed.

The new privacy function is being offered as part of a new subscription model that Apple is marketing as iCloud +. As the company has now told Reuters, among others, Private Relay is not offered in China. Users in Egypt, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Colombia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan and Uganda are also excluded from using the private relay. Apple refers to local regulations as a reason for the fact that the privacy functions are withheld from its users in these countries.

Apart from “iCloud Private Relay,” Apple also introduced “Hide My Email”. With “Hide My Email”, which extends the functions of “Sign in with Apple”, users can set up and use random email addresses that are forwarded to their personal inbox.

Whenever you do not want to reveal your personal email address, you can switch to a specially created forwarding. The function is integrated into Safari, the iCloud settings and Mail and allows users to create any number of email addresses and delete them at any time. It comes in Mail as part of the update to iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and iCloud.com.

Apple Presents iOS 15: Now Your iPhone Will Have New Redesigned Notifications, Better FaceTime And Much More

Vishak

June 8, 2021

Apple took advantage of WWDC 2021 to introduce iOS 15, the next generation of its operating system for the iPhone. The new iPhone operating system adds improvement in almost everything, including FaceTime, messages, notifications, search, photos, Apple Wallet, weather and Apple Maps.

Contents

1 New notifications
2 Facetime
3 iMessage
4 Photos
5 Safari redesigns
6 Changes in more apps
7 New privacy
8 Supported devices

New notifications

The main change users will see in iOS 15 includes notifications. Apple has added a function called Notifications Summary, a kind of notification centre similar to the one we have seen previously on Android. Apple’s idea is that these notifications will be organized depending on their relevance and the attention they require.

With this new notification centre, we will be able to better distinguish what types of notifications, and we will be able to organize them and give priority to the ones we want the most. We can schedule this summary of notifications to appear by grouping the notifications we want depending on the time, either in the morning or at night.

In the context of notifications, Apple also adds what is known as the Focus mode. This will allow us to focus on specific tasks, whether personal, work or sleeping — options that we can also edit, and through which the system will take care of the rest.

For example, if we focus on work, we will only receive notifications from work applications. The same with the personnel field; We will only receive notifications from our friends and family, and we can choose which friends and family have priority in Focus.

Facetime

Apple explains that they have worked to make FaceTime video calls more natural. In the first place, they will offer support for Spatial Audio in such a way that it will be like talking to people in person. In addition, they rely on artificial intelligence to block ambient sound, thus achieving focus only on voices.

Another feature that debuts in the service is the Grid View. That is, a mosaic view quite similar to the one offered by platforms such as Zoom. Clearly, Apple’s idea is for FaceTime to become a serious alternative to the aforementioned service.

Additionally, Apple has added the possibility of creating specific links to join FaceTime calls that, in addition to being able to share, will allow us to access these video calls even from a browser through Android or Windows.

Apple has also announced SharePlay, a feature for sharing all kinds of content in a FaceTime call. With this function, the members of the call can listen to music in sync with Apple Music and even watch series and movies via streaming. Again, everything synchronized at the moment, regardless of the chosen devices or the Internet connection.

All of this can be controlled through new controls at the top of the screen. SharePlay is interactive; the members of the call will be able to modify the reproduction queue or interact with the streaming video that is being reproduced. In addition, it is compatible with Picture-in-Picture for viewing on a small screen and with AirPlay. We can send the video to our Apple TV without ending the call. Streaming platforms such as Disney+ and HBO Max have already announced compatibility.

iMessage

The iMessage application also receives improvements. Now, iMessage will group all the content received in a small collection dedicated to a separate section so that we can consult it at all times. Focus and Do Not Disturb mode will appear directly in our iMessage status. That is, if someone wants to send us a message and we have any of these modes activated, the system will notify the group or contact so that they are aware of it.

Photos

iOS 15 does not leave behind Photos, as Memories can now add background music to enhance your experiences while watching them. iOS 15 integrates smart features like Live Text. This allows us to capture text from a photo and use your information. A function very similar to what we see in other apps like CamScanner, but integrated directly into the camera.

In addition, at the same moment in which we take the photo, we can both resize the photo so that it shows us only the surface of the text as well as select it directly from the photo.

This includes copying the text, pasting it to other sites, and so on. Also, Live Text will detect information from this text. If it has a phone number, we can call directly to that number that appears in the photo without having to copy the phone number. Live Text works on all platforms, even with web photos or screenshots.

Live Text picks up what the Google Lens see and applies machine learning to recognize elements within these photos and give us information about them. Additionally, images will now appear in Spotlight searches, a feature that many users have been requesting for years.

Safari redesigns

Apple has revamped the Safari browser interface so that it can be controlled with one hand. The tab bar is now floating and is located at the bottom of the screen. The groups of tabs also make their debut, which you can access from your iPhone, Mac or iPad thanks to the synchronization between devices.

Changes in more apps

As we say, iOS has mainly focused on improving its applications. Very important applications of the ecosystem are improved, such as Wallet, Weather or Maps. The Wallet will allow us to carry our keys on the iPhone. We can take the keys to our car, or even our house. The compatibility of these keys with Wallet will depend mainly on third-party manufacturers, and BMW will be one of the first to have this feature in iOS 15. Now, spatial audio is available on Mac, FaceTime, and Apple TV. AirPods get better too.

The health app also has numerous new functions. Apple calculates the risk of falling while walking with the help of the sensors integrated in the iPhone and Apple Watch and compares the values with other users. If the walk becomes too unsafe, the app warns the user.

New privacy

Apple once again emphasizes privacy, one of its most important keys. Now, we can hide our IP, our location, and we can also hide which emails we open. In addition, a small space will be included in iOS where we can review all the activity related to our applications and how they behave both with the system and with other third-party applications.

We may review third-party apps that have activity with our apps. In addition, we can check when these applications interact with our smartphone and can even check the exact time it was done.

Supported devices

iOS will also offer the choice between two software update versions in the Settings app in the future. Users can update to iOS 15 or stay with iOS 14 and still import important security updates. So far, most security updates have only been available for the latest iOS version.

The developer version of iOS 15 is now available. The public beta test is scheduled to start in July 2021. Surprisingly, iOS 15 is compatible with all iPhone and iPod Touch models currently running iOS 14.

These iPhone and iPod Touch models are supported by iOS 15:

iPhone 6S and 6S Plus
iPhone SE (1st generation)
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
iPhone X
iPhone XS and XS Max
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12
iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone SE (2nd generation)
iPod Touch (7th generation)

1...242243244...328 Page 243 of 328