16B passwords leaked in record-breaking data breach
This prompted Google to urge billions of users to change their passwords. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also warned US citizens to avoid clicking on suspicious links received via text messages.
The leak was uncovered as part of an ongoing investigation launched earlier this year by the team at Cybernews, who discovered 30 separate data sets. Experts described the incident as a coordinated mass exploitation scheme.
What raised particular concern among investigators was that nearly all of the data sets contained previously unreported information, making this a completely new and unprecedented security crisis.
Investigators believe the source of the breach was malware designed to harvest sensitive data from devices, including passwords saved in browsers, messaging apps, and cryptocurrency wallets.
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Arab News
5 hours ago
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Europe can build its own social media
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Just as the EU seeks to reduce its reliance on external providers for semiconductors, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, it must do the same for social media. The dominant platforms extract value from European users by capturing their attention and selling their data, while paying little in taxes and skirting regulations. Their proprietary infrastructure increasingly shapes our lives, from the news we see to the way we speak online. While European policymakers have long expressed concern about the concentration of corporate power among the big social media companies, and their outsize influence on society and politics, last year's US presidential election should be sounding alarm bells across the continent. Tech billionaire Elon Musk weaponized X, the platform formerly known as Twitter that he acquired in 2022, to help Donald Trump win reelection by promoting content favorable to him. He has since threatened to interfere in European elections. One solution is to invest in EU-based alternatives. But time and again, policymakers trot out the same excuse that there are no viable options. The European Commission's new International Digital Strategy is likewise skeptical that the bloc can wean itself off Big Tech, instead calling for collaboration with the US to address its dependency. But this stance ignores the emergence in recent years of social media sites built on decentralized, open protocols. These new platforms are fundamentally different, in principle and design, from American behemoths such as Instagram and X. They restore control to users, reduce gatekeeping and encourage innovation. Open protocols are poised to upend the status quo, creating a more democratic digital world. Sebastian Vogelsang Perhaps the best example is the AT Protocol, which serves as the foundation for Bluesky, a fast-growing platform that has amassed almost 36 million users. Designed for interoperability, the AT Protocol allows users to own their data and control the algorithms that curate their feeds. Anyone can develop apps on the decentralized system — which means that no single company can dominate — and users can easily move between platforms, taking their followers and content with them. That means they never have to start over from scratch. This dedication to pluralism helps break Big Tech's monopoly power over social media, which has stifled European innovation for decades. Europe-based firms have already used the AT Protocol to create platforms such as SkyFeed and Graysky. Others are trying to protect and build out this social ecosystem free from Big Tech's grip. The Free Our Feeds campaign is working to ensure that the underlying infrastructure continues to be governed in the public interest. Eurosky is a new pro bono effort by a group of European technologists, including myself, to create tools, such as built-in content moderation aligned with EU laws, and infrastructure on the AT Protocol that help European developers build and scale platforms that can rival the social media giants. Open protocols are not some utopian project. They are poised to upend the status quo of social media, creating a more democratic digital world. That is why European policymakers should designate these social networking frameworks as critical infrastructure and invest in developing them. Social media should be at the heart of Europe's digital sovereignty agenda. Building platforms in Europe that rely on an open-source framework would help safeguard democratic discourse from foreign manipulation, create economic value for the continent and ensure European social media users control the algorithms that shape what they see. Countries outside the EU could also benefit from these efforts to challenge Big Tech's dominance. The online world has gone astray, with America's tech sector largely calling the shots on how it is developed and used. Europe can help return the internet to its roots by fostering a social media ecosystem built for pluralism, not polarization, but it needs political leaders who are willing to fight for a new, truly social digital infrastructure.
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11 hours ago
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A man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart is in Michigan authorities' custody
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Al Arabiya
15 hours ago
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Landlord imprisoned for hate-crime attack on Palestinian American family has died
A landlord sentenced to decades in prison after he killed a Palestinian American boy and wounded his mother has died. Three months ago, Joseph Czuba was sentenced to 53 years behind bars for the attack. He was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen. The 73-year-old Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, which started days earlier. Czuba died Thursday in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriff's Office. Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations' Chicago office, said in a statement on Saturday that 'this depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well.' Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba's home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened. Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy's mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier. Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives. The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds, and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.
