Phone numbers belonging to ten prime ministers, three presidents, and a king were among the list of 50K potential NSO targets, leaked to Amnesty International
Spies for centuries have trained their sights on those who shape destinies of nations: presidents, prime ministers, kings.
Netflix reports Q2 revenue of $7.34B vs. $7.32B est., up 19% YoY, global paid net additions of 1.54M vs. 1.19M expected; US and Canada region lost 433K subs QoQ
- Netflix reported earnings that missed on the bottom line. — The company's revenue and global paid net subscriber additions beat estimates.
Researchers detail two new local privilege escalation vulnerabilities, one in recent builds of Windows 10 and the preview of Windows 11, and the other in Linux
Both OSes have flaws that allow attackers with a toehold to elevate access. — The world woke up on Tuesday to two new vulnerabilities … Source: US-CERT , Qualys Security Blog , and Qualys Security B...
Apple and Google can do more to screw up the economics of NSO-style mass exploitation, and should be pressured to do so
This week a group of global newspapers is running a series of articles detailing abuses of NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. If you haven't seen any of these articles …
NSO CEO claims leaked list of 50K+ phone numbers potentially targeted with NSO spyware has “nothing to do with us” and had first heard about the list last month
Top US Catholic Church official resigns after a Catholic media site obtained his alleged Grindr app and phone location data from an undisclosed data broker
The top administrator of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops resigned after a Catholic media site told the conference it had access …
Instagram is rolling out a new feature that lets users control “sensitive content” in the Explore tab, with settings to “Allow”, “Limit”, and “Limit Even More”
Instagram's Explore tab can feel like the Wild West at times.
Netflix says its expansion into gaming will start with mobile games, which will be included with a subscription at no additional cost
starting with mobile at no extra cost Michael Crider / Android Police : Netflix confirms it's working on games (but not the ones you want to play) Brittany A. Roston / SlashGear : Netflix details gami...
Google is shutting down Google Bookmarks on September 30, 2021, and clarifies Starred locations in Google Maps will not be deleted after Bookmarks shuts down
After 16 years of service, Google is about to shut down a service that isn't very well known. On September 30, 2021 “Google Bookmarks” will be closed off for all users.
Sources: NSO's Pegasus software, which requires an export license because it is considered a weapon, has become a crucial part of Israel's diplomatic outreach
the holy cow of the economy — and because the Israeli public is not really concerned, there is no public pressure on the government to change anything.” https://www.ft.com/... via @MehulAtLarge Kabir ...
Samsung announces its next Galaxy Unpacked event will be held virtually on August 11, where it is expected to unveil new foldables
Samsung just sent out invites for its next Unpacked event. There are those companies that like to sneak hints into their invites — and then there's Samsung.
EU Commission proposes a new law that would force companies that transfer Bitcoin or other crypto-assets to collect details of recipients and senders
Proposed changes to EU law would force companies that transfer Bitcoin or other crypto-assets to collect details on the recipient and sender.
YouTube debuts Super Thanks, which lets users tip creators for individual uploaded videos rather than livestreams and have their message highlighted in comments
YouTube announced its latest feature, Super Thanks, on Tuesday. This is YouTube's fourth Paid Digital Good …
Chrome 92 for iOS enables Face ID and Touch ID protection of Incognito tabs, “Full Page” screenshot support, and more
Google is rolling out Chrome 92 for iOS today with a number of new user-facing features and tweaks. — Chrome 92 rolling out: Android Toolbar shortcut …
Tumblr starts testing Post+, which allows users to charge their followers a monthly fee in exchange for access to exclusive content, with Tumblr taking a 5% cut
Social platform is the latest to let users earn money from posting — Microblogging stalwart Tumblr on Wednesday began …
Epic Games acquires Sketchfab, which operates a repository with 4M+ 3D assets, for an undisclosed sum; Sketchfab reduces its store commission from 30% to 12%
New York-based startup Sketchfab has been acquired by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine.
Twitter begins rolling out a preview of a revamped TweetDeck in the US, Canada, and Australia, featuring an option for wider columns, an Explore column, more
Twitter is beginning to test a completely redesigned version of TweetDeck, the company announced today.
Spanish police have arrested UK citizen Joseph O'Connor at the US' request over his alleged involvement in last year's hack of high-profile Twitter accounts
Authorities are still cracking down on participants in the July 2020 — Twitter celebrity hacks. Spanish National Police have
Google Maps expands its crowdedness predictions to 10K+ transit agencies in 100 countries, and will show how crowded individual carriages are in NYC and Sydney
Expanding to ‘over 10,000 transit agencies in 100 countries’ — Google is expanding the number of cities where Maps offers information about public transport crowding.
Byju's acquires Epic, a reading service for kids with a presence across 90% of elementary schools in the US, for $500M
Byju's said on Wednesday it has acquired California-headquartered reading platform Epic for $500 million, the latest in a series of moves from India's most valuable startup …
Argo AI says it plans launch up to 1,000 autonomous vehicles on Lyft's network in some US cities over the next five years, starting with Miami later this year
Autonomous vehicle technology startup Argo AI and its backer and customer Ford plan to launch up to 1,000 self-driving vehicles …
Zoom says Zoom Apps and its virtual events service Zoom Events are now generally available, with 50 apps available at launch, including Asana and Dropbox Spaces
The video communications giant said the updates are designed to offer users a greater degree of collaboration …
Biden nominates Jonathan Kanter, a long-time foe of Google, to become the DOJ's antitrust chief
myself included—viewed their roles as a means of placating anti-tech progressives. Wait to see who Biden elevates to FTC Chair, and to lead Antitrust at DOJ, etc. Turns out he means it. https://www.wa...
Instagram is testing a new feature called Collab in India and the UK that lets users invite a public account as a collaborator on a post or a Reel
Bengaluru: With collaborations being a major part of how people create content on Instagram, the Facebook-owned platform is now making it easier …
Verizon joins AT&T and T-Mobile in switching Android Messages default to RCS, raising questions about when or if Apple will swap its SMS default with RCS
Dieter Bohn / The Verge :
Core Scientific, which says it is the biggest bitcoin mining company in the US, says it will go public via SPAC at a valuation of around $4.3B
- Cryptocurrency mining operator Core Scientific is listing on the Nasdaq through a merger with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp.
Armenia-based Sololearn, which offers an app to learn coding, raises $24M, following a $1.2M Series A in 2016, and says it is adding more than 300K users/mo.
All the sessions from Transform 2021 are available on-demand now. Watch now. — Armenia-based Sololearn has raised $24 million …
Soldo, which develops an automated expense management system for businesses, raises $180M Series C led by Temasek, with Accel and others participating
Expense management has long been a pain point for employees and accounting departments: for many, tracking and parsing how money is spent …
Crypto derivatives exchange FTX raises $900M from SoftBank, Sequoia, and others, valuing it at $18B; CryptoCompare: FTX handles $10B+/day in trades on average
Capital Raise Pushes Exchange Valuation to $18 Billion Michelle Lim / Forkast : FTX crypto derivatives exchange closes record $900M Series B with $18B valuation Tweets: SBF / @sbf_alameda : 1) I'm dee...
Venmo says it is ditching its global social feed, making it so users can no longer see payments between people they don't know
Good morning! This Wednesday, tech employees want to work … Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge : Venmo drops the global social feed that could make your payments visible to strangers Emily Bary / Market...
Ethos, which integrates with third-party insurance underwriters to offer life insurance, raises $100M from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a valuation of $2.7B+
More than half of the U.S. population has stayed away from considering life insurance because they believe it's probably too expensive …
HBO Max partners with Snapchat to let users in the US co-watch pilots of select series with up to 63 other users for free via a Snap Mini
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
Safe Security, which offers a cybersecurity risk assessment service, raises $33M from UK telecom BT, which gets exclusive rights to sell its products in the UK
All the sessions from Transform 2021 are available on-demand now. Watch now. — Safe Security, which provides a platform …
Sources: Bolt, which offers a one-click checkout service, is raising a $333M Series D at a post-money valuation of $4B, nearly five times its December valuation
Bolt, a San Francisco-based startup that offers software for online shopping, is raising $333 million in Series D funding …
A look at Axie Infinity, a Pokémon-like blockchain-based game in which people buy digital pets as NFTs; the game generated $12.2M revenue in June, $79M+ in July
Welcome to the 1,267 newly Not Boring people who have joined us since last Monday! Join 61,505 smart, curious folks by subscribing here:
Yapily, which offers an API to let enterprises connect to 1,500+ banks across Europe with open banking services, raises $51M Series B led by Sapphire Ventures
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch :
A look at gallium nitride chips, which could replace silicon chips in a growing range of electronics and be produced in conventional fabs, unlike graphene chips
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @wsj , @amcafee , @raju , @wsj , and @gyude_moore Tweets: @wsj : Meet gallium, the weird metal that melts in your hand and is powering a revolution in...
DNSFilter, which offers DNS content filtering and threat protection services, raises $30M Series A led by Insight Partners, bringing its total raised to $36M
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat :
Profile of Mehmet Aydın, a Turkish citizen who turned mobile game Farm Bank into an $80M Ponzi scheme; he surrendered on July 1 after three years on the run
play a fun mobile game, make some extra cash, and support the country's agricultural sector all at once.” Fascinating story by @Paul_Osterlund in @restofworld https://restofworld.org/... Damon Beres /...
Paris-based Spendesk, which develops spend management software for SMBs, raises €100M Series C led by General Atlantic, bringing its total raised to €160M
Dan Taylor / Tech.eu :
Report: UK suspends grants to its largest fab, Newport Wafer Fab, which was bought by a Dutch firm owned by China's Wingtech, amid national security concerns
Revolut launches Stays, which lets users book hotels and other accommodations via its app, first in the UK followed by Europe and the US in the coming months
Ryan Browne / CNBC :
Google unveils a public preview of Google Cloud Armor Adaptive Protection, a ML-powered service for Google Cloud apps and sites to protect against DDoS attacks
Liam Tung / ZDNet :
FloQast, which develops accounting collaboration, automation, and close-management software, raises $110M Series D at a valuation of $1.2B
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat :
Money transfer company Wise reports Q1 revenue of ~$168M, up 43% YoY, in its first earnings report since going public on the London Stock Exchange
Product Hunt's Josh Buckley and others launch Hyper, a $60M early-stage fund offering $300K fixed checks, a mentorship network, and Product Hunt distribution
Paycor, which makes HR management software for SMBs, raises $426M in an IPO, selling shares for $23, above its $18-$21 range, giving it a valuation of $3.9B
Michael Hytha / Bloomberg : Source: GlobeNewswire News Room .
Mexico City-based Valoreo, which acquires e-commerce brands across Latin America, raises $50M Series A, over five months after raising a $50M seed round
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch :
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.