Feb 14, 2020
Updated: Apr 1, 2021
This week's technology headlines included Mobile World Congress being canceled due to coronavirus concerns and a look a jailbreaking used Teslas.
The Verge: The world’s biggest phone show has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns
By: Tom Warren
The world’s biggest phone show, Mobile World Congress, is no longer taking place this year. After coronavirus threatened to throw MWC into chaos, the GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes the show, has now canceled it.
New York Times: New Elections App Ignites Security Debate
For more than a decade, it has been an elusive dream for election officials: a smartphone app that would let swaths of voters cast their ballots from their living rooms.
Wired: The US Fears Huawei Because It Knows How Tempting Backdoors Are
By: Lily Hay Newman
US officials allege that Huawei has backdoors in its technology. The US knows firsthand how powerful those can be.
Wall Street Journal: Four Members of China’s Military Indicted Over Massive Equifax Breach
By: Aruna Viswanatha, Dustin Volz and Kate O’Keeffe
Four members of China’s military have been indicted by the U.S. government on charges of hacking into Equifax Inc. and plundering sensitive data on nearly 150 million Americans as part of a massive heist that officials said also stole trade secrets from the credit-reporting agency.
CNBC: A fifth of TV time in OTT-enabled homes is spent watching streaming services, report says
By: Megan Graham
According to a new report from Nielsen, 19% of the time consumers in OTT-capable homes are spending on TV is going to streaming.
Vice: People Are Jailbreaking Used Teslas to Get the Features They Expect
By: Aaron Gordon
Tesla is getting more aggressive in revoking paid software features on used cars, raising the stakes in a battle over what used Teslas can do that has raged for years.
Vice: Meet the Guy Selling Wireless Tech to Steal Luxury Cars in Seconds
By: Joseph Cox
Motherboard obtained a video of a so-called relay attack from EvanConnect, who sells keyless repeaters that can be used to break into and steal luxury cars.
Ars Technica: Nasty Android malware reinfects its targets, and no one knows how
By: Dan Goodin
A widely circulating piece of Android malware primarily targeting US-based phones used a clever trick to reinfect one of its targets in a feat that stumped researchers as to precisely how it was pulled off.
SC Magazine: Google patches Bluetooth vulnerability impacting most Android devices
By: Doug Olenick
Google has issued a critical security update for Android that affects the Bluetooth functionality on about two-thirds of all Android devices now in use.
Security Week: Facebook Paid $2.2 Million in Bug Bounty Rewards in 2019
By: Ionut Arghire
Over the course of 2019, Facebook paid security researchers a total of $2.2 million in rewards for vulnerability reports submitted to the social media platform’s bug bounty program.