The Army has granted upstart weapons maker Anduril control of one of its highest-profile and long-troubled projects known as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, founder Palmer Luckey announced in a blog post Tuesday.IVAS was initially awarded to Microsoft in 2018 to develop augmented reality headsets for soldiers based on a ruggedized version of Hololens. The initial budget for IVAS was set at $21.9 billion. Anduril will now assume control of the contract. While Microsoft is being removed as the pri ...

Core Viewpoint - Apple and Google have removed 20 apps from their app stores due to the discovery of data-stealing malware known as SparkCat, which has been active since March 2024 [1][2]. Group 1: Malware Discovery and Impact - Security researchers at Kaspersky identified the SparkCat malware initially within a food delivery app in the UAE and Indonesia, later finding it in 19 other unrelated apps, which were downloaded over 242,000 times from Google's Play Store [2]. - The malware utilizes optical character recognition (OCR) to capture text on users' displays, scanning image galleries for cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrases in multiple languages [3]. - By obtaining recovery phrases, attackers can gain full control over victims' cryptocurrency wallets, leading to potential theft of funds [3]. Group 2: Response from Companies - Following the report from Kaspersky, Apple removed the compromised apps from its App Store, with Google following suit shortly after [4]. - Google confirmed that Android users were protected from known versions of the malware through the Google Play Protect security feature [5]. - Despite the removal of the apps from official stores, Kaspersky indicated that the malware might still be accessible through other websites and unofficial app stores [5].

Core Insights - Apple released updates for iOS and iPadOS to address a vulnerability that could have been exploited in sophisticated attacks against targeted individuals [1] - The vulnerability allowed the disabling of USB Restricted Mode on locked devices, a feature designed to prevent unauthorized data access [1] - The flaw was discovered by Bill Marczak from Citizen Lab, which investigates cyberattacks against civil society [3] Vulnerability Details - The vulnerability was linked to physical access to devices, suggesting that attackers likely used forensic tools like Cellebrite or Graykey to exploit it [2] - USB Restricted Mode was introduced in 2018 to enhance security by blocking data transfer over USB connections if the device has not been unlocked for seven days [1] - Apple had previously implemented a feature that reboots devices after 72 hours of being locked to further protect user data [1] Context of Exploitation - There is uncertainty regarding who exploited this flaw and against whom it was used, but law enforcement agencies have a history of using forensic tools to access locked devices [5] - Amnesty International reported instances where Serbian authorities used Cellebrite to unlock phones of activists and journalists, indicating a pattern of abuse of such vulnerabilities [6]

In its latest attempt to erode the protections of strong encryption, the U.K. government has reportedly secretly ordered Apple to build a backdoor that would allow British security officials to access the encrypted cloud storage data of Apple customers anywhere in the world.The secret order — issued under the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (known as the Snoopers’ Charter) — aims to undermine an opt-in Apple feature that provides end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for iCloud backups, called Advanced Data Pro ...

On the same day that President Donald Trump delayed ending a trade exemption targeting certain Chinese imports, ecommerce company Shopify published a blog post making its stance on U.S. trade policy clear.In the post, Shopify endorsed “open trade,” calling for regulators to give online merchants the “freedom to expand without constraints imposed by geopolitical brinkmanship.” “Without small-business protections, legitimate entrepreneurs suffer under policies intended to curb exploitation,” the post read. “ ...

Amazon is the latest tech company to remove references to “inclusion and diversity” from its 10-K report. The filing has removed reference to diversity and inclusion as it pertains to the workplace.In its 2023 10-K form, the company had a sentence that read “As we strive to be Earth’s best employer, we focus on investment and innovation, inclusion and diversity, safety, and engagement to hire and develop the best talent.” In its 2024 10-K, that sentence was greatly reduced to simply read “We strive to be Ea ...

In Brief Government officials in the United Kingdom have reportedly secretly ordered Apple to build a backdoor that would give its authorities access to users’ encrypted iCloud data.The Washington Post reports that the demand was issued in January under the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act 2016, also known as the Snoopers’ Charter. Officials demanded “blanket” access to end-to-end encrypted files uploaded to its cloud by any user worldwide, according to the report, rather than asking for narrow access to spe ...

Despite all the buzz last week that DeepSeek would herald in an era of lower AI budgets, there is zero sign that Big Tech is slowing down. Instead, they’re ramping things up. Amazon is the latest tech giant to announce a massive AI spending plan with well over $100 billion in predicted capital expenditures for 2025. The “vast majority” of that $100 billion will go toward AI capabilities for its cloud division AWS, CEO Andy Jassy said during Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.  (More specificall ...

Ford CEO Jim Farley has a question about President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China: Why stop there?Farley said in a conference call Wednesday that Trump’s selective approach “doesn’t make sense.” “Why are we having this conversation while Hyundai-Kia is importing 600,000 units in the U.S. with no incremental tariff? And why is Toyota able to import a half a million vehicles in the U.S. with no incremental tariffs?” Farley questioned. “If we’re going to have a tar ...

Core Insights - The AI budget growth is under scrutiny due to concerns about competition from cheaper AI models, particularly from DeepSeek, which impacted Nvidia's stock [1] - Alphabet plans to significantly increase its capital expenditures to $75 billion this year, marking a 42% increase to enhance its AI initiatives [2] - The company believes that lower AI costs will drive demand for its services, leveraging its large user base to benefit from increased usage [3] - Alphabet's CEO emphasized the potential for extraordinary use cases in AI as costs decrease, indicating a strong commitment to investing in this area [4] - Despite uncertainties, major tech companies are currently able to sustain their AI investments, with no clear indication of when spending might slow down [5]