Author: ITlines

The 75th U.N. General Assembly is breaking new ground by going virtual this year due to the coronavirus. Along with that comes a whole new set of challenges and security risks. Aaron Fedor reports for VOA from New York City. …

The 75th U.N. General Assembly is breaking new ground by going virtual this year due to the coronavirus. Along with that comes a whole new set of challenges and security risks. Aaron Fedor reports for VOA from New York City. …

The battle between China and the U.S. over the fate of video sharing app TikTok raises questions for the tech industry worldwide. What might the struggle over TikTok portend for global companies? Michelle Quinn reports.Producer: Matt Dibble  …

The U.S. Commerce Department said Monday it is challenging a federal judge’s injunction against its order that Apple and Google remove WeChat from their U.S. app stores due to data privacy and national security concerns.The department’s original order, issued Friday, also included another Chinese-owned app, TikTok, and expressed the Trump administration’s concerns about the way the apps collect user data and the potential for that information to be shared with Chinese government agencies.China has rejected the U.S. allegations of a security threat, and on Saturday condemned what it called “bullying” that violated international trade standards.U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler responded Sunday to a request for an injunction from WeChat users by putting the Commerce Department’s order on hold, ruling that the Trump administration’s actions would restrict users’ free speech rights under the First Amendment.WeChat has about 19 million active daily users in the United States. The service, owned by Chinese tech company Tencent, is popular with Americans who use it to communicate with family and friends in China.Video-sharing service TikTok earned a short reprieve from its part of the Commerce Department order after announcing an agreement to form a new company with U.S. tech giant Oracle and retailer WalMart together holding up to a 20% share.The U.S. head office of TikTok is seen in Culver City, California, Sept. 15, 2020.Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Trump said his administration would not approve the agreement if ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, has any control.“If we find that they don’t have total control, then we’re not going to approve the deal,” Trump said of Oracle and WalMart.  “We will be watching it very closely.”Those comments are in contrast to those Trump gave Saturday when he said he approved of the agreement “in concept” and had “given the deal my blessing.” The Commerce Department has delayed the app store ban for TikTok until September 27, and given the company until November 12 to resolve national security concerns before facing a wider range of restrictions.  …

A U.S. judge early Sunday blocked the Commerce Department from requiring Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google to remove Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat for downloads by late Sunday.   U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco said in an order that WeChat users who filed a lawsuit “have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim [and] the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs’ favor.”   On Friday, the Commerce Department had issued an order citing national security grounds to block the app from U.S. app stores owned by Tencent Holdings, and the Justice Department had urged Beeler not to block the order.   Beeler’s preliminary injunction also blocked the Commerce order that would have barred other transactions with WeChat in the United States that could have degraded the site’s usability for current U.S. users. The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately comment.   WeChat has had an average of 19 million daily active users in the United States, analytics firms Apptopia said in early August. It is popular among Chinese students, Americans living in China and some Americans who have personal or business relationships in China.   The Justice Department said blocking the order would “frustrate and displace the president’s determination of how best to address threats to national security.” But Beeler said, “while the general evidence about the threat to national security related to China [regarding technology and mobile technology] is considerable, the specific evidence about WeChat is modest.”   She added, “The regulation — which eliminates a channel of communication without any apparent substitutes — burdens substantially more speech than is necessary to further the government’s significant interest.”   WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines services similar to Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Venmo. The app is an essential part of daily life for many in China and boasts more than 1 billion users.   The WeChat Users Alliance that had sued praised the ruling “as an important and hard-fought victory” for “millions of WeChat users in the U.S.”   Michael Bien, a lawyer for the users, said “the United States has never shut down a major platform for communications, not even during war times. There are serious First Amendment problems with the WeChat ban, which targets the Chinese American community.”   He added the order “trampled on their First Amendment guaranteed freedoms to speak, to worship, to read and react to the press, and to organize and associate for numerous purposes.”  …

Facebook has told Ireland’s High Court it cannot see how its services could operate in the European Union if regulators freeze its data transfer mechanism, the Sunday Business Post reported, citing court documents seen by the paper.The U.S. social media giant last week said that the Irish Data Protection Commission, its lead EU regulator, had made a preliminary decision that the mechanism it uses to transfer data from the EU to the United States “cannot in practice be used.”Facebook requested and secured a temporary freeze on the order and a court review in the Irish High Court, which is due to consider the issue in November. In an affidavit submitted to the court to request that the order be frozen, Yvonne Cunnane, Facebook Ireland’s head of data protection and associate general counsel, said it was not clear how the company could continue providing services in the EU if the Irish order is enforced, the Sunday Business Post reported.”It is not clear to (Facebook) how, in those circumstances, it could continue to provide the Facebook and Instagram services in the EU,” the newspaper quoted the affidavit as saying.The affidavit has not been made public, a High Court spokesman said, and a Facebook spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.In a Sept. 9 blog post that first confirmed the investigation by the Irish regulator, Facebook said it “relied on the mechanism in question – under what are known as standard contractual clauses (SCCs) – to transfer data to countries outside the EU and that a ban would have “a far reaching effect on businesses that rely on SCCs.”The Irish investigation follows a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in July on when SCCs can be used legally.The ruling was in response to EU concerns that the surveillance regime in the United States might not respect the privacy rights of EU citizens when their personal data is sent to the United States for commercial use.  …

Robert W. Gore, whose invention of what created the breathable-yet-waterproof fabric known as Gore-Tex revolutionized outdoor wear and helped spawn uses in numerous other fields, has died. He was 83.Gore, who was president of W. L. Gore & Associates for almost 25 years and company chairman for 30 years, died on Thursday following a prolonged illness at his home in Delaware, company spokesperson Amy Calhoun confirmed Saturday.  Gore discovered a new form of a polymer in 1969 at a company lab in Newark, Delaware. His father, who began the company, asked Bob Gore to research a new way to manufacturer plumber’s tape at a low cost using PTFE, commonly known as DuPont’s Teflon, The News Journal of Wilmington reported.The son figured out that by stretching PTFE with a sudden yank, the polymer expanded by 1,000 percent. The resulting product, known as ePTFE, created a microporous structure. The introduction of Gore-Tex technology came seven years later.“It was truly a pivot point in this company’s history,” Greg Hannon, W.L. Gore & Associates’ chief technology officer, said last year. “Without which we would be much less significant of an organization than we are today.”The membrane within Gore-Tex fabric has billions of pores that are smaller than water droplets, leading to waterproof but breathable raincoats, shoes and other clothing. The patents ultimately led to countless other uses with medical devices, guitar strings and in space travel, the company said.Gore was born in Utah, the oldest of five children to Bill and Vieve Gore, who both founded the company in 1958. Bill Gore had previously joined DuPont’s workforce and ultimately came to Delaware. Bob Gore earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and advanced degrees from the University of Minnesota. He succeeded his father as the company’s president and CEO in 1976. Gore and his family contributed funds for buildings and engineering laboratories at the University of Delaware.Gore is survived by his wife, Jane, as well as children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Memorial plans weren’t immediately announced by the company.  …

The Trump administration issued a sweeping ban Friday that will begin barring downloads and use of the Chinese-owned mobile apps WeChat and TikTok from U.S. app stores as of midnight Sunday. The announcement is the latest escalation in America’s tech fight with China.Officials from the U.S. Commerce Department cited national security and data privacy concerns over the move to ban the two popular internet platforms that serve more than 100 million people in the United States.Starting Monday, both apps will be removed from app stores and users will not be able to download the apps to their phones. For users who have the apps already installed, they will not be able to receive updates to the platforms. This restriction will quickly make the app obsolete on smartphones, as the inability to update will make it incompatible with Apple and Google smartphone software, which currently dominate the tech market.The order includes moves to render WeChat useless within the United States by banning American companies from hosting internet traffic or processing transactions from within the app as of midnight Sunday.WeChat serves millions of U.S. users who predominantly rely on the app to stay in touch and conduct business with people and companies in China.Like most social networking sites, both TikTok and WeChat collect user data, including location and messages to track what kind of targeted ad content is most applicable to them.As of now, TikTok will escape the most drastic sanctions until similar restrictions go into effect November 12 unless the company is able to resolve the administration’s national security concerns by the deadline. The order follows weeks of wrangling with the company, which recently struck a deal with U.S.-based software maker Oracle, the details of which have yet to be announced.The app, which has become especially popular among younger users, has proved useful in some political contexts, including for mischief.TikTok users made headlines earlier this year by working to inflate the expected turnout for a rally President Donald Trump held in Tulsa, Oklahoma — and making the actual attendance seem especially low by comparison.The deadline to comply with restrictions falls just after the November 3 presidential election in the United States.Prior to striking the deal, representatives of TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, were in talks with Microsoft. The partnership between Microsoft and ByteDance fell through earlier this month after reports estimated that the company would shell out up to … “Trump Administration Announces Bans of TikTok, WeChat” →

The U.S. Commerce Department said it will issue an order Friday that will bar people in the United States from downloading Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok starting on September 20.Commerce officials said the ban on new U.S. downloads of TikTok could be still rescinded by President Donald Trump before it takes effect late Sunday as TikTok owner ByteDance races to clinch an agreement over the fate of its U.S. operations.ByteDance has been talks with Oracle Corp and others to create a new company, TikTok Global, that aims to address U.S. concerns about the security of its users’ data. ByteDance still needs Trump’s approval to stave off a U.S. ban.Commerce officials said they will not bar additional technical transactions for TikTok until Nov. 12, which gives the company additional time to see if ByteDance can reach a deal for its U.S. operations. “The basic TikTok will stay intact until Nov. 12,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network.The department said the actions will “protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality.”Oracle shares fell 1.6% after the news in pre-market tradingThe Commerce Department order will “deplatform” the two apps in the United States and bar Apple Inc’s app store, Alphabet Inc’s Google Play and others from offering the apps on any platform “that can be reached from within the United States,” a senior Commerce official told Reuters.The order will not ban U.S. companies from doing businesses on WeChat outside the United States, which will be welcome news to U.S. firms like Walmart and Starbucks that use WeChat’s embedded ‘mini-app’ programs to facilitate transactions and engage consumers in China, officials said.The order will not bar transactions with WeChat-owner Tencent Holdings’ other businesses, including its online gaming operations, and will not prohibit Apple, Google or others from offering TikTok or WeChat apps anywhere outside the United States.The bans are in response to a pair of executive orders issued by Trump on August 6 that gave the Commerce Department 45 days to determine what transactions to block from the apps he deemed pose a national security threat. That deadline expires on Sunday.Commerce Department officials said they were taking the extraordinary step because of the risks the apps’ data collection poses. China and the companies have denied U.S. user data is collected for spying.Ross said in a written statement “we have taken significant action … “Officials: Trump to Block US Downloads of TikTok, WeChat on Sunday” →

President Donald Trump has threatened a US ban on TikTok could happen as early as next week …

A Chinese firm with suspected ties to the Chinese government has been amassing a database of detailed personal information on 2.4 million people, including more than 50,000 Americans, according to findings by an independent researcher and an Australia-based cybersecurity firm.       Christopher Balding, an American professor who taught at Peking University’s HSBC School of Business in Shenzhen for nine years, analyzed the data with Internet 2.0, a cybersecurity firm based in Canberra. They published their findings this week.      Balding said the database was leaked to him in 2019.   The cache, called the Overseas Key Information Database (OKIDB), contains the personal information of roughly 2.4 million people. Many of them are influential policymakers who can exert influence in their fields of specialty.   According to their report, the database was compiled by China’s Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. The company was founded in 2017 and had offices in Shenzhen and Beijing. Its mission, according to a screen shot of their website, which was deleted not long ago, is to “aggregate global data and help the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”  Zhenhua Data’s marketing and recruiting documents characterize the company as a patriotic firm, with the military as its primary target customer.  Cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0 was able to recover the records of about 250,000 people from the leaked data, including 52,000 Americans, 35,000 Australians and nearly 10,000 British citizens. These include politicians and businessmen, scientists, tech experts, academics, bankers, journalists and lawyers. Information about family members, such as the 11-year-old daughter of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was also recovered. FILE – An iPhone with Twitter, Facebook and other apps, May 21, 2013.Analysts say the data was extracted from social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as news reports and criminal records.  Balding told VOA that apart from open source, there was also data extracted from illegal sources.  “We estimate about 80 percent of the data is what we call open source. There’s also data that appears to be hacked or stolen data that comes from other sources, nonpublic sources,” Balding said.  In a FILE – The logo for LinkedIn Corporation, a social networking networking website for people in professional occupations, is shown in Mountain View, California, Feb. 6, 2013.”It allows China to know which institutions or individuals they should be targeting. This is why, for instance, intelligence agencies in multiple countries have warned about … “China Data Leak Points to Massive Global Collection Effort” →

Social media companies are taking down videos and images that could be vital in prosecuting serious crimes, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are increasingly using artificial intelligence algorithms to remove material deemed offensive or illegal. Human Rights Watch says vital evidence is being missed or destroyed. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

The U.S. government announced sanctions Wednesday on two Russian nationals for their role in the theft of at least $16.8 million worth of cryptocurrency.In the phishing scheme, which was conducted in 2017 and 2018, Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi allegedly created web sites that looked like legitimate currency exchange sites. Victims would enter their information, which was then used to access real accounts.The two, who were identified by the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security, then allegedly laundered the stolen cryptocurrencies through multiple virtual currency exchanges using fake profiles.“The individuals who administered this scheme defrauded American citizens, businesses and others by deceiving them and stealing virtual currency from their accounts,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement. “The Treasury Department will continue to use our authorities to target cybercriminals and remains committed to the safe and secure use of emerging technologies in the financial sector.”According to the statement, the government seized millions of dollars in virtual currency and U.S. dollars in an account owned by Karasavidi. …

Indonesia has had more than 220,000 COVID-19 cases and the country still hasn’t reached its peak. Social distancing is an important part of controlling the virus and new technology aims to help people stay safely apart. VOA’s Rendy Wicaksana reports from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Camera: Rendy Wicaksana    …

U.S prosecutors announced charges on Wednesday against five suspected Chinese hackers and two Malaysian businessmen in connection with cyber-attacks on more than 100 companies in the United States and abroad.The five Chinese hackers, one of whom allegedly bragged about ties to China’s civilian intelligence service, remain at large. The two Malaysian businessmen, accused of conspiring with two of the hackers to profit from hacks on gaming companies, were arrested in Malaysia on Sept. 14, the Justice Department announced.The Chinese hackers were charged in two separate indictments handed down in August 2019 and August 2020. The Malaysian businessmen were charged in a third indictment returned in August, 2020.U.S. prosecutors alleged the hackers targeted a wide range of entities, including software development firms, computer hardware manufacturers, telecommunications providers, social media companies, video game companies, non-profit organizations, universities, think tanks, and foreign governments, as well as pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong.”The Department of Justice has used every tool available to disrupt the illegal computer intrusions and cyberattacks by these Chinese citizens,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. “Regrettably, the Chinese communist party has chosen a different path of making China safe for cybercriminals so long as they attack computers outside China and steal intellectual property helpful to China.”In addition to charging the suspects, U.S. authorities seized hundreds of accounts, servers, domain names, and command-and-control (C2) “dead drop” web pages used by the defendants to conduct their computer intrusion offenses.The indictments are the latest in a series of charges against suspected Chinese hackers and come as amid growing tensions between the U.S. and China over the coronavirus pandemic, trade, and Hong Kong.President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed China for the spread of the coronavirus and top administration officials have publicly called out China for cyber-intrusions and other alleged misbehavior on the global stage in support of its strategic objectives.In July, Attorney General William Barr accused China of engaging in an “economic blitzkrieg” to supplant the United States as the world’s only superpower, and he warned U.S. businesses not to bow to Chinese pressure in pursuit of profit. …

On September 14, famous video-sharing app TikTok confirmed it will become business partners with Oracle, foregoing Microsoft’s bid. The decision comes weeks after the Trump administration said the Chinese-owned TikTok is a security risk. Anush Avetisyan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.  Camera: Elena Matusovsky    …

North Korean hackers are probably working with Russian-speaking cybercriminals on ransomware and other malicious software, researchers said Wednesday.     Security firm Intel 471 said in a report it found links between North Korean hacker group Lazarus, known for attacks on banks worldwide, and a Russian-operated malware operation called TrickBot.     TrickBot is described in the report as a “malware-as-a-service offering, run by Russian-speaking cybercriminals, that is not openly advertised on any open or invite-only cybercriminal forum or marketplace.”    It works with “top-tier cybercriminals with a proven reputation,” the report said.     The Intel 471 report said other security researchers have pointed to possible links between the groups, but that its investigation found more evidence, including signs that malware developed in North Korea was offered for sale on Russian marketplaces.     “Our conclusion is that we deem it likely that threat actors running or having access to TrickBot infections are in contact with DPRK (North Korean) threat actors,” the report said.     “DPRK threat actors likely are active in the cybercriminal underground and maintain trusted relationships with top-tier Russian-speaking cybercriminals.”     It added that “malware believed to be only used and probably written by DPRK threat actors was very likely delivered via network accesses held by Russian-speaking cybercriminals.” …

Kim Kardashian West, Katy Perry and Leonardo DiCaprio are among celebrities taking part in a 24-hour Instagram “freeze” on Wednesday to protest against what they say is parent company Facebook’s failure to tackle violent and hateful content and election misinformation. They were among the high profile names lending their backing to the “#StopHateforProfit” movement’s latest campaign. The movement asks people to put up a message highlighting what they called the damage Facebook does but otherwise refrain from posting on Instagram for a day. “I can’t sit by and stay silent while these platforms continue to allow the spreading of hate, propaganda and misinformation – created by groups to sow division and split America apart – only to take steps after people are killed,” Kardashian West posted on her Instagram account on Tuesday. Facebook declined to comment but pointed to recent announcements about what it’s doing to limit the reach on its platform of groups that support violence and its efforts to protect the U.S. election in November.   With 188 million followers, Kardashian West is one of the most influential people on Instagram and support from her and other big names for the boycott saw Facebook shares slide in aftermarket trading late Tuesday. They were down 1.3% ahead of the market open on Wednesday. The organizers behind “#StopHateforProfit,” including civil rights groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP and Color Of Change, had previously led a campaign that got hundreds of companies and groups to join a Facebook advertising boycott in July.   Ashton Kutcher, Mark Ruffalo, Kerry Washington, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Foxx and Sacha Baron Cohen were among at least two dozen other Hollywood stars supporting the campaign, the organizers said.   DiCaprio said he was standing with the civil rights groups to call “on all users of Instagram and Facebook to protest the amplification of hate, racism, and the undermining of democracy on those platforms.”   Social media companies, led by Facebook, are facing a reckoning over what critics call indefensible excuses for amplifying divisions, hate and misinformation on their platforms. …

Two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed all 346 passengers and crew aboard were the “horrific culmination” of failures by the planemaker and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a U.S. House panel concluded after an 18-month investigation. The crashes “were not the result of a singular failure, technical mistake, or mismanaged event,” the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Democratic majority said in its highly critical report released on Wednesday. “They were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing’s management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA.” The 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019 after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 near Addis Ababa which killed all 157 aboard. In October 2018, a Lion Air 737 MAX had crashed in Indonesia killing all 189 on board. “Boeing failed in its design and development of the MAX, and the FAA failed in its oversight of Boeing and its certification of the aircraft,” the report said, detailing a series of problems in the plane’s design and the FAA’s approval of it. Boeing said it “learned many hard lessons as a company from the accidents … and from the mistakes we have made.” It said it had cooperated fully with the House committee and that revised design work on the 737 MAX had received intensive internal and external review involving more than 375,000 engineering and testing hours and 1,300 test flights. The FAA said in a statement it would work with lawmakers “to implement improvements identified in its report.” It added it was “focused on advancing overall aviation safety by improving our organization, processes, and culture.” The report said Boeing made “faulty design and performance assumptions” especially regarding a key safety system, called MCAS, which was linked to both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. MCAS, which was designed to help counter a tendency of the MAX to pitch up, could be activated after data from only a single sensor. The FAA is requiring new safeguards to MCAS, including requiring it receive data from two sensors, before it allows the 737 MAX to return to service. The report criticized Boeing for withholding “crucial information from the FAA, its customers, and 737 MAX pilots” including “concealing the very existence of MCAS from 737 MAX pilots.” The FAA “failed to ensure the safety of the traveling public,” the report … “US House Report: Boeing, FAA Failures to Blame for 737 MAX Crashes” →

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday he is confident there will be effective 5G competitors to China’s Huawei from Western vendors at comparable costs, adding that he believes Western technologies will come to dominate telecommunications. “I am confident that there will be a cost-effective deliverables from Western trusted vendors that can deliver the same services, or better services, at comparative cost,” Pompeo said during an Atlantic Council event. In what some observers have compared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is worried 5G dominance would give China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept. With U.S.-China relations at their worst in decades, Washington has been pushing governments around to world to squeeze out Huawei Technologies Co, arguing that the firm would hand over data to the Chinese government for spying. Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former engineer in China’s People’s Liberation Army, denies it spies for Beijing and says the United States is trying to smear it because Western firms are falling behind in 5G technology. Pompeo said countries had come to recognize the costs of putting “untrusted” vendors in their systems. “Over time, I think the world will come to recognize that’s not the right path and you will see Western technologies that are verifiable, trustworthy and transparent come to dominate the telecommunications markets,” he said. 5G, which will offer much faster data speeds and become the foundation of many industries and networks, is seen as one of the biggest innovations since the birth of the internet itself a generation ago. …

Starting Sept. 15, China’s telecom giant Huawei — once a symbol of Chinese technology prowess — will be cut off from essential supplies of semiconductors. Without those chips, Huawei cannot make the smartphones or 5G equipment on which its business depends, business analysts say.The sanctions against one of China’s most successful technology companies were announced in August, when the United States introduced a new set of rules that prohibit foreign chipmakers that rely on U.S. technology from selling any chips to Huawei without first obtaining a special license.In recent weeks, suppliers from South Korea and Taiwan have all indicated they will comply with the sanctions and cease their supply of semiconductors to Huawei on Tuesday, the day the new moves against the Chinese company comes into force.“Unfortunately, in the second round of U.S. sanctions, our chip producers only accepted orders until May 15. Production of the chip will stop on Sept. 15,” Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei’s consumer business, said last month. “Because there is no Chinese chip manufacturing industry to support, Huawei is faced with the problem of no chips.”Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Technologies Consumer Business Group, holds a Huawei Mate Xs foldable smartphone, as he talks to the audience during Huawei stream product launch event in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 24, 2020.MicrochipsFor all of China’s efforts to become a global leader in high-technology, the factory of the world is yet not able to manufacture top-level contenders in one crucial area — the microchip, the nervous system that runs just about every electronic device.An important mark of a microchip’s level of sophistication is how many transistors can be placed on its surface. The smaller the size, measured in nanometers, the more advanced the microchip.China’s best manufacturing process is believed to be able to make 14-nanometer microchips, which are several generations behind Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Samsung reached this standard in 2014. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is already making 5-nanometer chips.Kunpeng 920 chipset is on display at Huawei’s booth during the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, Sept. 4, 2020.While some of the most advanced semiconductor manufacturers are based outside the U.S., the industry is heavily dependent upon U.S. suppliers to provide everything from design software to manufacturing equipment.Washington first placed Huawei on a trade blacklist in May 2019, citing national security concerns. However, this ban did not include … “Huawei’s Survival at Stake as US Sanctions Loom” →

Some people stuck inside during coronavirus lockdown are playing video games. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, entrepreneurs are catering to young people who want to share the gaming experience. From Kinshasa, Anasthasie Tudieshe has the story. …

ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the wildly popular video sharing app TikTok, has rejected Microsoft’s bid to buy the app and appears to be leaning toward a deal with investors led by Oracle.  The Trump administration has given ByteDance until September 20 to make a deal or stop operating inside the U.S.  On Sunday, the Microsoft’s corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)In a statement, Microsoft said its proposal “would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation.”The fate of TikTok in the U.S. hangs in the balance as it approaches the Trump administration deadline. In recent months, the video app has become a focus of U.S.-China tensions with the administration accusing the company of being answerable to the Chinese government, a claim that TikTok has denied. In August, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning TikTok and WeChat, the Chinese messaging app. But even with security concerns about TikTok, Americans have continued to download the app. By end of first quarter 2020, TikTok saw more than 300 million downloads in the U.S., according to Go.Verizon’s data.  Microsoft together with Walmart pursued a deal with ByteDance. A second group of investors led by Oracle emerged as a possible bidder. Oracle is one of the few Silicon Valley firms with top executives who have held fundraisers for President Trump. As the negotiations progressed, the Chinese government changed its export rules stopping TikTok from selling its valuable recommendation algorithm, dubbed “For You,” which queued up the next video for a user to watch. It’s unclear if any deal with Oracle would involve the algorithm.  …

The same Russian military intelligence outfit that hacked the Democrats in 2016 has renewed vigorous U.S. election-related targeting, trying to breach computers at more than 200 organizations including political campaigns and their consultants, Microsoft said Thursday.The intrusion attempts reflect a stepped-up effort to infiltrate the U.S. political establishment, the company said.”What we’ve seen is consistent with previous attack patterns that not only target candidates and campaign staffers but also those who they consult on key issues,” Tom Burt, a Microsoft vice president, said in a blog post. U.K. and European political groups were also probed, he added.Most of the hacking attempts by Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents were halted by Microsoft security software and the targets notified, he said. The company would not comment on who may have been successfully hacked or the impact.Although U.S. intelligence officials said last month that the Russians favor President Donald Trump and the Chinese prefer his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, Microsoft noted Thursday that Chinese state-backed hackers have targeted “high profile individuals associated with the election,” including people associated with the Biden campaign.China’s hackers largely gather intelligence for economic and political advantage, while Russia tends to weaponize stolen data to destabilize other governments.Microsoft did not assess which foreign adversary poses the greater threat to the integrity of the November presidential election. The consensus among cybersecurity experts is that Russian interference is the gravest. Senior Trump administration officials have disputed that, although without offering any evidence.”This is the actor from 2016, potentially conducting business as usual,” said John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis at the cybersecurity firm FireEye. “We believe that Russian military intelligence continues to pose the greatest threat to the democratic process.”Fancy BearThe Microsoft post shows that Russian military intelligence continues to pursue election-related targets undeterred by U.S indictments, sanctions and other countermeasures, Hultquist said. It interfered in the 2016 campaign seeking to benefit the Trump campaign by hacking the Democratic National Committee and emails of John Podesta, the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, and dumping embarrassing material online, congressional and FBI investigators have found.The same GRU military intelligence unit, known as Fancy Bear, that Microsoft identifies as being behind the current election-related activity also broke into voter registration databases in at least three states in 2016, though there is no evidence it tried to interfere with voting.Microsoft, which has visibility into these efforts because its software is both ubiquitous … “Russian Hackers Targeting US Campaigns, Microsoft Says” →

Bingo is back, this time among millennials and Gen Zers. To stave off boredom caused by the coronavirus quarantine and connect with others, millions of global millennials and Gen Zers are issuing challenges to each other on social media.  Challenges have gotten so popular that social media giant Instagram added a “challenge” story sticker to make it easier for users to create their own or nominate others.  Challenges and tags flooding social media range from drawing random oranges and tagging friends, to perfecting 15-second dances on TikTok to keep people busy, connected and entertained.  Here are some of the biggest social media trends and challenges that have gone viral.Bingo  People are making bingos about everything, whether it’s a university, zodiac sign or ethnicity. Bingo questions usually follow a “never have I ever” format that users cross off until they eliminate all the spaces on a card to make bingo. Users tag friends and post to their social media. (Courtesy of @eggtaurus via Instagram)Workout challenges The rules are simple: Film yourself doing 10 or more pushups and tag as many people as you want to challenge them to do the same. The first was the #see10do10 pushup challenge. Workout challenges include the plank challenge, the (Courtesy of Madeline Joung)Drawing challenge  Users draw digital paintings of random objects on Instagram and tag their friends to continue the chain.  Toilet paper challenge  This challenge is popular among pet owners, seeing how many stacks of toilet paper a pet can jump over, leaping over several stacks or sometimes crashing through a wall of toilet paper.  …

A teacher in Nigeria is offering free mathematics classes via Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram to help struggling students affected by the coronavirus lockdown. After almost six months, more than 1,000 students are taking her online classes, across Nigeria and even internationally. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. …