NY Post : Government officials around the globe targeted by hackers through Face

Government officials around the globe targeted by hackers through Facebook’s WhatsApp

Senior government officials in multiple US-allied countries were targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used Facebook’s WhatsApp to take over users’ phones, according to people familiar with the messaging company’s investigation.

Sources familiar with WhatsApp’s internal investigation into the breach said a “significant” portion of the known victims are high-profile government and military officials spread across at least 20 countries on five continents. Many of the nations are US allies, they said.

The hacking of a wider group of top government officials’ smartphones than previously reported suggests the WhatsApp cyber intrusion could have broad political and diplomatic consequences.

WhatsApp filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Israeli hacking tool developer NSO Group. The Facebook-owned software giant alleges that NSO Group built and sold a hacking platform that exploited a flaw in WhatsApp-owned servers to help clients hack into the cellphones of at least 1,400 users between April 29, 2019, and May 10, 2019.

The total number of WhatsApp users hacked could be even higher. A London-based human rights lawyer, who was among the targets, sent Reuters photographs showing attempts to break into his phone dating back to April 1.

While it is not clear who used the software to hack officials’ phones, NSO has said it sells its spyware exclusively to government customers.

Some victims are in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Mexico, Pakistan and India, said people familiar with the investigation. Reuters could not verify whether the government officials were from those countries or elsewhere.

Some Indian nationals have gone public with allegations they were among the targets over the past couple of days; they include journalists, academics, lawyers and defenders of India’s Dalit community.

NSO said in a statement that it was “not able to disclose who is or is not a client or discuss specific uses of its technology.” Previously it has denied any wrongdoing, saying its products are only meant to help governments catch terrorists and criminals.

Cybersecurity researchers have cast doubt on those claims over the years, saying NSO products were used against a wide range of targets, including protesters in countries under authoritarian rule.

Citizen Lab, an independent watchdog group that worked with WhatsApp to identify the hacking targets, said on Tuesday at least 100 of the victims were civil society figures such as journalists and dissidents, not criminals.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, said it was not surprising that foreign officials would be targeted as well.

“It is an open secret that many technologies branded for law enforcement investigations are used for state-on-state and political espionage,” Scott-Railton said.

Prior to notifying victims, WhatsApp checked the target list against existing law enforcement requests for information relating to criminal investigations, such as terrorism or child exploitation cases. But the company found no overlap, said a person familiar with the matter. Governments can submit such requests for information to WhatsApp through an online portal the company maintains.

WhatsApp has said it sent warning notifications to affected users earlier this week. The company has declined to comment on the identities of NSO Group’s clients, who ultimately chose the targets.

FT : Netflix threatens to blunt auteurs’ ‘scalpel of boredom’

Netflix threatens to blunt auteurs’ ‘scalpel of boredom’
Drive for more efficient viewing on the streaming service prompted an outcry from directors

This week, streaming service Netflix announced that it had been testing new “player controls” that allow customers to vary the speed at which they watch its content on Android smartphones. 

Users can choose speeds ranging from a stately 0.5x the normal rate to a positively dizzying 1.5x. Keela Robison, Netflix vice-president, said this was a feature that had been “frequently requested by our members”.

These people presumably included the proprietor of Efficiency in Everything, an American website that applies the principles of “industrial engineering” to all facets of domestic life. 

In 2016, the site published an article entitled, “Watch a three-hour movie in two hours + you get more time”. Saving four minutes a day on a given task, whether it’s doing the laundry or watching a film, will save you 1,200 hours over the course of a lifetime, the author Michael Kirk enthused. Just think of it: “More drama, more laughs, more drama, more suspense — same time.” What’s not to like?

Mr Kirk said he prefers to watch films and television programmes at 1.3x, but confessed to having watched “really long movies at 1.5x”. As if to reassure those who might balk at the thought of making the car chase in The French Connection, say, even more stomach-churning than it already is (think “Popeye” Doyle on speed), he suggested watching things at 1.1x. 

Even then, the gains are not negligible. Watching an hour-long episode of British Royal drama The Crown on Netflix at 1.1x, for example, would save you six minutes (as well as attenuating some of the series’ longueurs). Over the entire first season, you’d get back a whole hour — time you could use to shave off yet more minutes and hours of screen time, in a vicious or virtuous circle, depending on your point of view.

In 2016, when Mr Kirk wrote his piece, to do this on Netflix you had to download a special plug-in. One assumes the time spent doing that would have had to be subtracted from the time gained over the course of a season. Now, however, the Android feature delivers the ability to speed up or slow down with much less hassle. (There are currently no plans, Netflix says, to roll out the function to other devices.)

As Ms Robison acknowledged, not everyone regards this as a welcome innovation. There have, she admitted, been some “creator concerns”. That’s one way of describing the howls of anguish from aggrieved filmmakers that greeted the news. 

Brad Bird, director of Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, denounced the new function as “another spectacularly bad idea”. And Judd Apatow tweeted: “No @Netflix no. Don’t make me have to call every director and show creator on Earth to fight you on this. Save me the time. I will win, but it will take a ton of time. Don’t f**k with our timing.”

This was a useful reminder that f**king with a film’s timing can do as much damage as doctoring its images. If fairly mainstream directors like Messrs Apatow and Bird felt moved to take up arms against Netflix, imagine how the Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky, regarded by many as the godfather of the so-called slow film movement, would have reacted. 

His 1979 film Stalker, loosely based on a Soviet-era science fiction novel, received a chilly response from the State Committee for Cinematography, which thought it dragged a bit. For Tarkovsky, this was a category error. “What a person normally goes to the cinema for is time,” he said. “Whether for time wasted, time lost, or time that is yet to be gained.”

The greatest directors, argues the American film-maker and screenwriter Paul Schrader, know how to wield the “scalpel of boredom”. It’s an insight Ms Robison and her colleagues at Netflix might care to reflect upon.

>>> US Close Dow +1.11% S&P +0.97% Nasdaq +1.13% Russell +1.72%

Closing Stock Market Summary

The S&P 500 (+1.0%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.1%) rallied to close the week at record highs after the October employment report exceeded expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.1%) performed similarly to its large-cap peers, while the small-cap Russell 2000 (+1.7%) outperformed. 

Specifically, nonfarm payrolls increased by 128,000 (Briefing.com consensus 80,000), which was much more than expected when considering the GM strike. The figure followed upwards revisions for August and September, which could ensure the economy continues to expand, especially given the wage-based gains and low unemployment rate in the labor market.

This translated to a strong open for the stock market, which then rose to session highs after the ISM Manufacturing Index for October checked in at 48.3% (Briefing.com consensus 48.7%). This was its third straight monthly contraction, but the market's reaction reflected a better-than-feared perspective.

Investors embraced risk, with cyclical sectors leading the rally. The S&P 500 energy sector (+2.5%) outpaced the market, as oil prices ($56.21, +2.03, +3.8%) rose nearly 4% and Exxon Mobil (XOM 69.60, +2.03, +3.0%) beat earnings estimates. Next in line were the industrials (+2.2%), materials (+1.5%), and financials (+1.4%) sectors.

The defensive-oriented, and rate-sensitive, real estate (-0.3%) and utilities (-0.2%) sectors finished lower as the risk-on mindset contributed to higher Treasury yields. The 2-yr yield and the 10-yr yield increased four basis points each to 1.56% and 1.73%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 97.20.

There was also some trade news that presumably cushioned the upbeat mood. China's Ministry of Commerce said both sides reached a consensus on core issues in a phone call involving senior negotiators. The USTR office followed up, saying that they are "in the process" of resolving outstanding issues, according to CNBC. 

Apple (AAPL 255.82, +7.06) rose 2.8% and the trade-sensitive Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.3%. The latter was supercharged by Qorvo (QRVO 97.22, +16.36, +20.2%), an Apple supplier, beating top and bottom-line estimates and providing encouraging guidance. 

Separately, Fitbit (FIT 7.14, +0.96, +15.5%) agreed to be acquired by Alphabet (GOOG 1273.74, +13.63, +1.1%) for $7.35/share in cash, or approximately $2.1 billion. Pinterest (PINS 20.86, -4.28, -17.0%) disappointed investors with its guidance. 

Reviewing Friday's economic data, which featured the Employment Situation Report for October and the ISM Manufacturing Index for October:

  • The October employment report was adversely impacted by the GM strike but otherwise strong absent the effects of that strike, which led to about 42,000 job losses for the motor vehicle and parts industry. October nonfarm payrolls increased by 128,000 (consensus 80,000). There were sizable upward revisions to nonfarm payrolls for August and September, fewer discouraged workers, and an uptick in the labor force participation rate.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that it is not emblematic of an economy that is on the brink of a recession. On the contrary, it is emblematic of an economy that is expanding and looks poised to sustain the longest economic expansion on record thanks to a solid labor market and rising wages that are fuel for consumer spending.
  • The ISM Manufacturing Index for October checked in at 48.3% (consensus 48.7%), up from 47.8% in September but still below the 50.0% level, which is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that it points to a manufacturing sector that is still contracting, although at a slower pace than before which is why the report can be deemed better than feared.
  • Total construction spending increased 0.5% m/m in September (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%) following a downwardly revised 0.3% decline (from +0.1%) in August.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that private construction spending remains weak (down 4.6% yr/yr), saddled by a downturn in residential spending (down 3.6% yr/yr) that has stemmed in large part from a decline in new single-family construction (down 4.9% yr/yr).

Looking ahead, investors will receive the the Factory Orders report for September on Monday.

  • Nasdaq Composite +26.4% YTD
  • S&P 500 +22.3% YTD
  • Russell 2000 +17.9% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +17.2% YTD

TheInfirmation : Facebook Held Talks to Buy Fitbit Before Google Struck Deal By

Facebook Held Talks to Buy Fitbit Before Google Struck Deal
By
Alex Heath
Nov. 1, 2019 9:26 AM PDT ·
Comment by Josh Ellstein

Before Google reached a $2.1 billion deal to buy Fitbit, announced on Friday, Facebook held talks to acquire the smartwatch maker, according to two people familiar with the situation. But Facebook was interested in buying Fitbit at roughly half what Google proved willing to pay, one of the people with direct knowledge of the talks said.
Facebook’s interest in Fitbit signals the social network’s growing ambitions in hardware, an area the company has invested in aggressively over the past several years but which has yet to become a material part of its business. Facebook and Fitbit declined to comment.