Ethiopia Suffers Internet Shutdown, Facebook to Ban Deepfakes, and Toyota to Build Smart City

Africa

Ethiopia suffers internet shutdown

Several towns in western Ethiopia have suffered internet shutdowns since the beginning of the week according to media reports. Some parts have also reported disruption in mobile call services. Ethiotelecom is the sole provider of telecommunications services in the East African country and has a history of shutting down the internet. In 2019, the company cut off the internet while high school students sat for their exams. It also cut off the internet during a wave of ethnic-related violence in the past. There has been no official explanation to the situation from Ethiotelecom. Experts say the shutdown is costing Ethiopia at least $4.5 million each day.

Airtel Nigeria launches new video app

Airtel Nigeria has launched a new video app called Airtel TV to host music, sports, and news, according to multiple news reports. Airtel has partnered content developers at Trace Africa, Discover Digital, and others, to provide free content for its subscribers on both IOS and Android platforms. In addition, subscribers will be able to watch live TV from popular channels like Trace, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Bollywood, etc. “The television platform would deliver the very best of television experience directly to all Airtel customers across the country,” Airtel’s Chief Commercial Officer, Dinesh Balsingh, said of the new product.

Europe

Banks stop issuing forex after massive cyber-attack on Travelex

A number of banks on UK’s High Street have stopped issuing foreign exchange after Travelex suffered a massive ransomware, the BBC has reported. Travelex specialises in international payments and provides services to travellers, banks and others. The company, however, suffered a massive breach leading to a lockdown of all its systems in Europe, America, and Asia. Hackers are demanding $6 million in ransom. Banks like Lloyds, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Scotland who rely on Travelex for their forex have issued statements saying they could no longer fulfil their obligations until Travelex resolves the cyber-attack. “Travelex is gradually restoring a number of internal systems and is working to resume normal operations as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson said. Travelers confirmed that no customer data had been compromised, and that its staff are using pen and paper to file documents until the situation is rectified.

iPhone XR has problems on O2 network

Apple has confirmed that the iPhone XR is facing problems on the O2 network according to the BBC. Users of the XR reported losing signal for several times a day. The situation made it difficult for users to make or receive phone calls as the signal fluctuated for long periods of time. In cases where the signal was available, 4G was mostly unavailable. That left many apps unable to function unless users were connected to a WiFi. O2 confirmed the problem with the BBC, saying, “We’re working closely with our partners to resolve an intermittent issue affecting some of our customers using iPhone XR.” Apple, meanwhile, promised to fix the situation in the next update. “We are aware of an issue causing intermittent network connectivity effecting some O2 customers, and we will have a fix in an upcoming software release,” it said.

The Americas

Facebook to ban deepfake videos

Facebook has announced plans to remove all videos modified using artificial intelligence from its platform, a report on the BBC has said. Deepfakes use computer technology to superimpose images and videos into a clip to create an almost seamless video. It has been used to create distorted clips of politicians and in some cases, ex-lovers. While Facebook had decided to suppress such clips on its platforms, it revealed in a recent blog post that it was now going to ban the video and remove existing ones from its platforms. “The fact the video is fake and intended to be misleading is the key thing for me. Whether sophisticated AI techniques are used or less sophisticated techniques isn’t relevant,” said scientist William Tunstall-Pedoe, complimenting Facebook’s decision.

US lawmakers to stop sharing intelligence with countries that use Huawei

A US lawmaker, Tom Cotton, has introduced a bill seeking to prevent the US from sharing intelligence with countries that use Huawei in their 5G network, a Reuters report has revealed. The US has been pushing its allies to avoid using Huawei in next generation devices due to alleged ties between Huawei Technologies and government officials in Beijing. When passed into law, the United States would halt any intelligence-sharing relationship with any country that uses the Chinese company’s devices in its 5G infrastructure.

Asia

TikTok fixes major security flaw

ByteDance says it has fixed a major security glitch on its video-sharing platform according to a report by the BBC. The security flaw was found by research firm, Check Point, which reported the situation to TikTok. The flaw in TikTok’s security would have allowed hackers to share fake videos, delete existing ones, and even collect user data illegally. “Like many organisations, we encourage responsible security researchers to privately disclose zero-day vulnerabilities to us,” TikTok said after adding that it had fixed the problem. Zero-day vulnerabilities are flaws that have not yet been detected but pose pertinent danger to the app.

Toyota to build prototype city of the future in Japan

Toyota Motor Corp has announced plans to build a prototype city at the foot of Mount Fiji, Reuters has reported. The city will be powered by hydrogen fuels while serving as a lab for autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, and smart homes. Paying homage to its history as a loom manufacturer, Toyota named the proposed experiment, “Woven City.” Instead of testing devices on a small block, Woven City would offer researchers a large scale, real-life location to test advancements in science and technology. Construction of the futuristic city will begin on the site of an old car factory set to be closed by the end of 2020 and will house an initial 2,000 residents. Toyota has enlisted Bjarke Ingels to design Woven City. Bjarke’s company designed Google’s offices as well as the two world trade centre buildings.