Tag Archive for: OFFER

Google on why it decided to offer 7 years of Android, security updates on Pixel 8 series

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Google Pixel 8 series launch announcement was a bit of a sweet surprise for potential buyers as the company promised 7 years of OS and security updates. Apart from a bunch of AI magic tricks and quarterly feature drops, Google went ahead with this USP to make Pixel phones stand-out from a sea of Android smartphones. Recently, one of the company executives spoke about it and why it was done.

Seang Chau, vice president – Devices & Services Software, said during a podcast that Google has active user data of its Pixel users which suggests that most people use one model for multiple years.

“So when we look at the trajectory of where the original Pixel that we launched in 2016 landed and how many people were still using the first Pixel, we saw that actually, there’s quite a good active user base until probably about the seven-year mark,” Chau said.

According to the executive, when Google realised that people have been using the phones for as long as six years, the company decided that it will support Pixel 8 and later models with a total of 7 years of OS and security updates.

How Google is able to promise this change
One of the major changes that Pixel smartphones have seen since Pixel 6 onwards is the Tensor SoC – designed by Google to undertake AI tasks and machine learning models, giving it a better control on features.

But 7 years is a long time in the smartphone industry, and to tackle hardware limitations, Chau said that by keeping features software-based, Google aims to extend the usability of older devices, allowing them to benefit from new features without needing hardware upgrades.

Recently, it was announced that Pixel 8 is also going to get some AI features that were available on Pixel 8 Pro.

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BlackCat Ransomware Group Draws $10M Reward Offer – MeriTalk

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The State Department announced on March 27 that it’s offering up to $10 million in reward money for information about individuals linked to the ALPHV BlackCat ransomware-as-a-service group.

UnitedHealth Group late last month confirmed that it was victimized by BlackCat in the ransomware attack on its Change Healthcare unit that paralyzed billing services for providers of prescriptions and other services nationwide.

The ransomware group first deployed its services in 2021, and its members have “developed and maintained” ransomware and recruited affiliates to deploy it since then, the State Department said.

“ALPHV BlackCat operated as a ransomware-as-a-service business model in which the group’s members developed and maintained the ransomware variant and then recruited affiliates to deploy the ransomware. ALPHV BlackCat and its affiliates then shared any paid ransoms,” the State Department said in a statement.

The ALPHV BlackCat ransomware-as-a-service group compromised computer networks of critical infrastructure sectors in the United States, deploying ransomware on the targeted systems, “disabling security features within the victim’s network, stealing sensitive confidential information, demanding payment to restore access, and threatening to publicize the stolen data if victims do not pay a ransom,” the agency said.

The department’s Rewards for Justice program — which is administering the reward — specifically wants information that would lead to the “identification or location of anyone who engaged in the malicious cyber activities against U.S. infrastructure on behalf of a foreign government” in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

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Feds offer reward after UnitedHealthcare hack

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The agency is offering the reward for information that would lead to the identification or location of anyone who engaged in the “malicious cyber activities” against U.S. infrastructure on behalf of a foreign government, our colleague Lauren Irwin reported.

 

“The ALPHV BlackCat ransomware-as-a-service group compromised computer networks of critical infrastructure sectors in the United States and worldwide, deploying ransomware on the targeted systems, disabling security features within the victim’s network, stealing sensitive confidential information, demanding payment to restore access, and threatening to publicize the stolen data if victims do not pay a ransom,” the State Department said in a statement.

 

The group ALPHV, or Blackcat, was first deployed in 2021. Its members have “developed and maintained” ransomware and recruited affiliates to deploy it, according to the State Department.

 

Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group that manages payment systems for most of the hospitals in the U.S., was hit by a cyberattack on Feb. 21. Many patients had to pay out-of-pocket for medicines and health care services due to the effects of the attack.

 

As of mid-March, the health care giant said that it was testing software it must restore from the attack but has no date yet for finishing the recovery. The company restored nearly all its systems for processing prescriptions, bills and payments, The Associated Press reported.

 

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

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Android 15 Could Offer a Boost to Two-Factor Authentication Security to Keep User Data Safe: Report

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Android 15 is still under development, but on Friday, February 16, Google released the first Developer Preview of the upcoming operating system. The tech giant said that the new Android software will largely focus on security, and a new report claims to have found three new ways it will make your smartphone and your sensitive data more secure. According to it, Android 15 will be able to better protect the notifications that arise from two-factor authentications (2FA) so that a malicious app or malware cannot access it to steal user data.

According to a report by Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, Android 15 will be implementing new ways to cover the gaps left behind by its predecessors. Currently, most two-factor authentication methods for social media profiles, emails, and banking apps use SMS to send a one-time password (OTP). However, there is a risk if a malicious third-party app can read this notification and use it to hack into sensitive data or get into your banking apps and steal money.

To reduce the risk, Google has already begun placing strings of codes in the current edition of the OS. The report found a line of code in the Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 update that mentions a new permission named RECEIVE_SENSITIVE_NOTIFICATIONS. This permission comes with a higher protection level and can only be given to apps that Google personally verifies. The exact role of this permission is not known but given its naming, it appears to deal with a special category of notifications that will not be accessible for third-party apps to read.

The report highlights that it is likely aimed at 2FA-related notifications. The belief comes from a separate string of code found by Rahman, which points to an under-development platform feature, to which the permission is tied. The feature is named NotificationListenerService and it is an API that lets apps read or take action on notifications. A general use case would be how many apps ask for access to notifications to auto-fill OTP when creating a new account. However, once this API becomes active (it isn’t in the Android 14 build), this will get more difficult.

This API will require the user to enter Settings and then manually grant permission to apps…

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