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Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter team up to crack down on hackers who steal rare usernames – The Verge

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Instagram has disabled hundreds of accounts that were stolen as part of online hacking operations designed to gain access to and sell rare and coveted usernames, the company tells The Verge. Both TikTok and Twitter also took action on some of the accounts belonging to the same hackers, reports journalist and cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs.

The Facebook-owned platform set its sights mainly on the community surrounding OGUsers, a website well-known for trafficking in stolen usernames and helping facilitate the hacking of these accounts through methods like SIM swapping, which is when a user gains control of someone’s phone number and uses it to reset passwords and take control of social media handles. News of Instagram’s enforcement was first reported on Thursday by Reuters.

“Today, we’re removing hundreds of accounts connected to members of the OGUsers forum. They harass, extort and cause harm to the Instagram community, and we will continue to do all we can to make it difficult for them to profit from Instagram usernames,” a Facebook spokesperson tells The Verge. The disclosure is notable because it’s the first time the platform has publicly shared information regarding moderation against username hackers. Earlier this week, Instagram released a new feature that lets people recover deleted posts, in the event a hacker takes control of their account and wipes it clean.

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Krebs reported on Thursday that the crackdown was something of a joint effort, with Twitter and TikTok also taking action against popular OGUsers community members at the same time on those companies’ respective platforms (although it’s unclear how much coordination there was between the three companies or how far-reaching TikTok and Twitter’s enforcement was).

“As part of our ongoing work to find and stop inauthentic behavior, we recently reclaimed a number of TikTok usernames that were being used for account squatting,” TikTok told Krebs in a statement. “We will continue to focus on staying ahead of the ever-evolving tactics of bad actors, including cooperating with third parties and others in the industry.”

In addition to disabling the accounts that were stolen, rendering them worthless, the social platforms have also disabled some accounts of well-known OGUsers middlemen who act as intermediaries during username transactions by holding funds in escrow in exchange for a cut of the fee, reports Reuters.

OGUsers made headlines last summer when a small cohort of hackers affiliated with the site allegedly participated in an unprecedented Twitter hack that involved resetting the passwords on the accounts of dozens of high-profile individuals and companies, including Elon Musk and Barack Obama, and using their access to run a bitcoin scam. Like the individual at the center of the Twitter hack, then-17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark, many of the hackers Instagram is cracking down on today and those who frequent OGUsers are minors, often drawn into the community by the allure of stealing and retaining a rare username of their own.

These usernames tend to be single words — in rare cases, individual letters or numbers — and they can fetch tens of thousands of dollars on underground markets for stolen digital goods. And because platforms like Instagram and Twitter have rules barring the buying and selling of accounts, the hackers interested in procuring one of these coveted handles often resort to illegal means to obtain them. SIM hacking is a popular method, but standard phishing as well as sustained online harassment, extortion, and even swatting are other known techniques, notes Reuters.

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McMaster students pique, if not sell, seniors on ditching gas cars – Hamilton Spectator

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Nadine Martin-Stout only bought her gas-fuelled car a few years ago, so she isn’t ready to make the switch to an electric or hybrid vehicle just yet.

But she said she’s open to the idea, which is why she chose to join more than 50 older drivers at a Mobility Matters forum hosted by McMaster University’s student EcoCAR team on April 14 that offered a primer on emerging car technology.

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Shadow API Detection for Google Cloud Environments in Preview – InfoQ.com

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During Google Cloud Next, Google announced the preview release of shadow API detection in Advanced API Security, part of the Apigee API Management solution. This managed API Broker service in the Google Cloud allows users to design, secure, deploy, monitor, and analyze APIs.

Apigee’s advanced API Security capability proactively identifies misconfigured APIs and detects malicious bot and business logic attacks. Nils Swart, a group product manager at Google Cloud, and Shelly Hershkovitz, a product manager at Google Cloud, write in a Google blog post:

Previously, this protection was only available for actively managed APIs. Now, with the ability to discover shadow APIs in Advanced API Security, you can eliminate hard-to-find blind spots and close security gaps.

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Overview of Advanced API Security (Source: Google Documentation Apigee)

Shadow APIs are not under a company’s control but are used by developers to save time on repetitive tasks, become less dependent on other teams, or fill a gap in the organization’s existing approved APIs. Although developers may have good intentions, these unregulated APIs can pose serious vulnerabilities when allowed to function freely within the organization’s software environment.

The company has recently integrated Advanced API Security with Google Cloud regional external Application Load Balancers. This integration allows for the precise identification of API traffic within specific regions, which helps to ensure compliance and meet performance requirements. The capability can extract key API details such as endpoints, platforms, protocols, parameters, and responses by analyzing requests and responses within the load balancers. This information offers accessible insights into API operations, activities, and recent updates through a provided user interface.

Detailed information on shadow API endpoints associated with your load balancer (Source: Google blog post)

Other cloud providers like AWS and Microsoft offer API management services like Apigee API Management and similar features. With regards to Shadows APIs:

  • AWS API Gateway integrates with AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF), which can provide a similar level of security in protecting against unauthorized and malicious API requests. Although it does not natively have a “Shadow API detection” feature, its combination of WAF and detailed logging and monitoring through AWS CloudWatch and AWS X-Ray can indirectly help identify and manage shadow APIs.
  • Azure API Management service features include Gateway-level threat protection, which can be used to identify potentially malicious activities that may involve shadow APIs. It also offers detailed analytics and logging, which can help track undocumented APIs.

Dan Mearls, a director of sales Apigee Enterprise at Google, posted on LinkedIn:

Shadow APIs pose significant business risks due to their frequent lack of robust security measures like authentication and authorization protocols. This makes them vulnerable targets for hackers, increasing the likelihood of data breaches and sensitive information leaks. Additionally, shadow APIs might bypass established data handling protocols, potentially leading to violations of data privacy regulations like GDPR or CCPA, resulting in substantial fines and severe damage to an organization’s reputation.

Lastly, the documentation for getting started provides more details on Advanced API security.

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Moto Edge 50 Ultra unveiled with SD 8s Gen 3, 64MP 3x periscope and real wood back – GSMArena.com news – GSMArena.com

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Do you miss the days when Motorolas could be styled with real wood backs? The new Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a real wood option along with two vegan leather colorways – Forest Grey and Peach Fuzz (Pantone’s Color of the Year 2024).


Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Nordic Wood

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Nordic Wood

There was no Ultra model last year, so this isn’t a sequel but rather an upgrade over the Edge 50 Pro that was unveiled a couple of weeks ago. The Ultra brings more processing power and a better camera setup compared to the Pro.

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Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Forest Gray and Peach Fuzz
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Forest Gray and Peach Fuzz
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Forest Gray and Peach Fuzz
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Forest Gray and Peach Fuzz

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Forest Gray and Peach Fuzz

It is based on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, a huge step up from the 7 Gen 3 chip inside the Pro. You get more RAM too, 12GB or 16GB (LPDDR5X) with more available via RAM boost. The storage is 512GB or 1TB (UFS 4.0).

The camera upgrades start with the main module, which is equipped with a 50MP 1/1.3” sensor – large enough to have 1.2µm pixels before quad pixel binning comes into play. It has omni-directional autofocus and OIS for the f/1.6 lens.

The standout camera is the 3x 72mm periscope, which is equipped with a 64MP sensors (0.7µm pixels) and a bright f/2.4 aperture. Next up is the 50MP ultra wide camera (0.64µm pixels), its f/2.0 lens has 122° field of view and autofocus for macro shots. The cameras use a laser autofocus system and a 3-in-1 sensor that helps with exposure, auto white balance and flicker detection.

Moto Edge 50 Ultra unveiled with SD 8s Gen 3, 64MP 3x periscope and real wood back

The front camera has a 50MP sensor (0.64µm) with an f/1.9 lens with autofocus. All three cameras can record 4K video at 60fps. The main cam on the back and the selfie also have slow-mo modes at 1080p (120fps on the front, up to 960fps on the back).

Since 2024 is the year of AI, artificial smarts have been employed to help the camera. AI automatically adjusts the shutter speed and level of stabilization based on the scene. It also handles auto focus tracking. The new Photo Enhancement Engine optimizes the images for detail in the highlights and shadows, clarity, color and bokeh.

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is built around a curved 6.7” P-OLED display with 2,712 x 1,220px resolution (20:9). It runs at 144Hz and has a touch sampling rate of up to 360Hz (in gaming mode). The display peaks at 2,500 nits and uses DC dimming. The 10-bit color rendering gives it HDR10+ support and a certification for HD streaming from Netflix and Amazon.

Moto Edge 50 Ultra unveiled with SD 8s Gen 3, 64MP 3x periscope and real wood back

Pantone is responsible for the Peach Fuzz colorway, but the color specialists also tested the display and certified it as Pantone Validated and Pantone Skintone Validated. The camera system is validated by Pantone as well.

The Ultra is built around an aluminum frame, the front features Gorilla Glass Victus with an anti-fingerprint coating. It is rated IP68 for dust and water resistance.

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra: Snapdragon 8s Gen 3
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra: 50W wireless charging
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra: Gorilla Glass Victus

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra: Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 • 50W wireless charging • Gorilla Glass Victus

Like the Pro, it has a 4,500mAh battery with 125W TurboPower charging over USB and 50W wireless. Motorola says that plugging in for 4 minutes is enough to last you the rest of the day. Wired and wireless power sharing is available too.

The phone is available as single-SIM (SIM or eSIM) and dual-SIM (SIM and eSIM). It supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and Bluetooth 5.4, as well as Ultra Wide Band (UWB). The latter offers accurate distance and angle readings relative to other UWB-enabled devices like your friend’s phone or a UWB tag. Additionally, the USB-C port offers both USB 3.2 and DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity.

The phone comes with stereo speakers with tuning by Dolby Atmos, plus Dolby Head Tracking is also supported (Motorola just happened to also unveil new earbuds today).

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra will go on sale in select European countries in the coming weeks. The base model will have a price of €1,000. Additionally, the phone will be available in Asia, Latin America and Oceania. Check out our hands-on review for more on the phone.

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