Google+ Shut Down, Data of 540 Million Facebook Users Exposed, And Saudi Hacked Jeff Bezoz’s Smartphone

Africa

Boeing software malfunctioned as Ethiopian plane crashed

The Boeing 737 MAX jet’s anti-stall feature forced the Ethiopian airline to nosedive despite pilots turning it off, it has been revealed. The feature, known as MCAS, forces the Boeing plane to dive downwards in a bid to avoid stalling. Sources close to a preliminary report about the March 10 crash indicate the feature kicked in at least 4 times prior to the plane’s crash, Reuters has reported. MCAS is believed to be responsible for a crash involving a Lion Air aircraft some five months prior as well. The 10 March crash of the Ethiopian airline has led to the worldwide grounding of all 737 MAX aircraft.

Ghana to rectify sim registration deficiencies

Ghana’s communications ministry is looking to address deficiencies in the registration of sim cards in the country, Citinewsroom has reported. This comes at the back of alleged fraudulent registration of sim cards as well as the sale of pre-registered cards to the public. The communications ministry has charged telcos to adhere to the strict sim card regulations in order to curb the rise of illegal termination of international traffic, mobile money frauds, illegal sim card swaps, and mobile money fraud.

The Americas

Google shuts down Google+ early

Google has finally shut down its social media platform, Google+, following a bug discovery in 2018. Google+ was launched in 2011 as a social layer that would link users across all of Google’s services like YouTube and Hangouts. While it didn’t catch up to platforms to Facebook and Twitter, it was the discovery of a bug in 2018 that triggered Google’s decision to shut down the social media platform, BBC says. The bug exposed private information of 52 million users to third-party developers.

Saudi hacked Jeff Bezoz’s phone

A private investigator has revealed that Jeff Bezoz’s phone was hacked by Saudi officials as retaliation for the Washington Post’s coverage of the Jamal Kashoggi’s murder, it has been reported. Jeff Bezoz’s private messages to his girlfriend were leaked to tabloid website National Enquirer some months ago, for which he was allegedly blackmailed through the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc. It should be noted that Jeff Bezoz doubles as the owner of the Washington Post, the news company where Jamal Kashoggi worked before he met his fatal end at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Since then, the Post has relentlessly pursued the case in a bid to unravel the truth behind the murder of the Saudi critic. “Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone, and gained private information,” Jeff’s private investigator said. The findings have been handed over to federal officials.

540 million Facebook user data exposed

A security firm, UpGuard, has found detailed data of up to 540 million Facebook users that were left exposed for months. The data cache was found on an Amazon server account of a Mexican social media company, Cultura Collectiva. UpGuard said the data included detailed accounts of user comment activity, ID numbers, and their reactions on Facebook. Facebook has since removed the data from the servers with the help of Amazon, BBC said in a report. Cultura Collectiva had defended itself, saying such information was legally acquired from interactions on their various Facebook pages. No password or email addresses were exposed.

Hoax caller sentenced to 20 years

Call of Duty hoax caller, Tyler Barriss, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for causing the murder of Andrew Finch, BBC has reported. Tyler had made a ‘swatting’ call and lied that Finch had killed his father and was holding the rest of his family hostage. This led to the deployment of a SWAT team to the victim’s house in Kansas where the father of two was shot to death, while Tyler was 1,400 miles away in Los Angeles. It turned out Tyler Barriss was involved in a row over a Call of Duty game with two others. The other two are awaiting trial over their possible involvement in the case. ‘Swatting’ calls are hoax calls intended to make SWAT squads raid a target’s house.

Europe

UK demand sincerity from Mark Zuckerberg

UK’s Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has charged Facebook’s founder to prove his sincerity by dropping his appeal to the Cambridge Analytica fine. Over the weekend, Mark Zuckerberg was reported to have praised EU’s data regulations, encouraging the US to emulate their European counterparts. He made this claim despite Facebook declaring their intention to appeal the $655,000 fine slapped on the tech giant for its role in the Cambridge Analytica data breach. To prove that he truly believes in more regulations, Elizabeth Denham is challenging Zuckerberg to drop the appeal. “In light of Mark Zuckerberg’s statements over the weekend about the need for increased regulation across four areas, including privacy, I expect Facebook to review their current appeal,” the commissioner said according to the BBC.

Broadband users to receive automatic compensation

Broadband and landline service providers will now compensate users whenever the services don’t work, it has been revealed. Users who suffered delayed maintenance, installations, and missed appointments will receive automatic compensation from five of UK’s service providers without having to ask for it. The companies are BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, and Zen Internet. Telecoms watchdog, Ofcom, had intimated in 2017 at proposing an enforcing compensation regulation in the UK. Following that, however, independent service providers approached Ofcom to create a voluntary scheme, which has now been formalised by the watchdog. Plusnet, Vodafone, Hyperoptic, and EE have all declared their intentions to join the automatic compensation scheme.

Asia

Japan to provide royalty-free access to hybrid vehicle patent

Toyota Motor Corp is looking to offer free access to its hybrid-vehicle technology through to 2030, Reuters has reported. The move is to increase hybrid-vehicle uptakes as against all-battery engines. As part of the deal, Toyota is willing to license up to 24,000 patents and will also supply components like power converters, motors, and batteries in some of its lower-emissions vehicles. “We want to contribute to an increase in take up (of electric cars) by offering not just our technology but our existing parts and systems to other vehicle makers,” Toyota Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi said. Toyota currently holds nearly 80% of the global hybrid-vehicle market.

South Korea first to roll out 5G

South Korea will become the first country to roll out 5G services. Reports from Reuters say SK Telekom will roll out the fifth generation wireless service via Samsung‘s Galaxy S10 by end of the week. 5G will offer data speeds 20 times faster than 4G networks, experts have said. There are also important implications for artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and streaming. Samsung became the first smartphone company to unveil the first 5G device with the launch of Galaxy S10 5G.

Huawei laptop bug raises serious concerns

A flaw has been found in Huawei MateBook laptops by Microsoft researchers, raising security concerns about the company’s products. A computer security analyst compared the “backdoor” feature to what was created by the National Security Agency to spy on its targets, BBC has reported. The “backdoor” access could give illegal access to third parties who could then take over the computer. “It could be organised crime gangs, which are increasingly interfering with the supply chain, or it could be someone playing geo-politics to discredit Huawei,” computer security analyst, Prof Alan Woodward, said.