Tag Archive for: security

Massive ‘Apex Legends’ Hack Disrupts NA Finals, Raises Serious Security Concerns


Something rather terrifying has disrupted the North American Finals of Apex Legends, and players are now starting to potentially worry about their own accounts and the overall safety of the game.

Respawn and EA have postponed the North American Finals in the wake of the “competitive integrity” of the game being compromised. This involved a wild situation where someone was giving the pros hacks like aimbots and wallhacks as they were playing in the Finals event, effectively ruining the entire thing without anyone actually attempting to cheat. Here’s what that looked like (warning: language):

This shocked players and one even got banned from the game for using an aimbot cheat before Respawn shut the entire thing down.

What’s unclear is the extent of the breach. There is some concern that it might not just be for messing with the pros at the finals, but a larger security issue with the entire game that could affect the wider playerbase. Some creators are claiming on social media that they’ve scanned their PCs and are finding viruses, though there’s so much panic going around there’s no evidence that has to do with this hack. But if the hack could breach a pro match, it would seem to be something that could breach normal players, even if it’s not actually doing so right now. Many believe this is the work of one hacker, Destroyer2009, who has previously been hacking pros, and this was an RCE remote exploit using their PCs, but none of that has been confirmed.

It’s hard to understate just how unprecedented something like this is in a major esports event. A finals event getting put on ice because someone breached the game to give players hacks is simply something that does not happen.

This has led to a mass of complaints about Apex’s anti-cheat systems, which clearly failed in a massive way for this situation. But it also speaks to just how advanced cheats have become as this is a private lobby for pros playing in an esports final.

Not that this is necessarily related, but Respawn was just hit days ago with 23 layoffs including Apex Legends developers, some of whom were longtime veterans. Though if anything, this shows that EA needs to…

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TikTok faces national security review in Canada: minister


TikTok faces national security review in Canada: minister

by AFP Staff Writers

Ottawa (AFP) Mar 15, 2024






Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s proposed expansion of the popular video app in this country, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Friday.

In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the Investment Canada Act had been quietly initiated in September 2023.

“We have launched a national security review (of TikTok),” he told reporters.

“Once we have completed that,” he said, “we’ll inform Canadians about any actions that we decide to take with respect to that particular topic.”

“I’ll have more to say when our review is completed,” the minister added without saying when that would be.

Champagne noted a March 2023 announcement that foreign investments in Canada’s interactive digital media sector would face “intense scrutiny.”

Those found to be “propagating disinformation or manipulating information in a manner that is injurious to Canada’s national security” could face mitigation measures or even a ban, according to the policy statement.

The Canadian review is not related to a proposed US bill that would force its Chinese owners to sell or see it banned in the United States.

That bill is partly fuelled by concerns over Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering.

TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.

“We’re watching, of course, the debate going on in the United States,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday after the US House of Representatives passed the bill, which still needs approval from the Senate.

Ottawa banned TikTok from federal government mobile devices in February 2023.

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The Hangzhou Internet Security Institute released an AI industry report., Business News


The Hangzhou Internet Security Institute released an AI industry report.

The Hangzhou Internet Security Institute published an AI industry report, systematically elucidating the prospects of the AI industry. It also offers an in-depth analysis of the latest developments and technological breakthroughs of leading AI institutions, while exploring the challenges and opportunities of AI technology in practical applications. The institute believes that, despite the significant progress made in AI technology, there are still issues related to data security and privacy protection in its practical applications, which merit global caution and attention.

On February 15, 2024(EST), OpenAI officially released the Sora video model, along with 48 generative video cases and a technical report. Users can simply input text to generate a 60-second video. The launch of Sora undoubtedly represents another significant breakthrough following the introduction of ChatGPT in 2023. Sora is considered the pinnacle of achievement in the field of artificial intelligence to date, with the AI competition seen as the forefront of the current Sino-American rivalry. Currently, the institute has heard two perspectives: Firstly, the development of AI technology will determine the future rise or fall of China and the United States. The rise and fall of great powers usually begin during periods of major technological change, and ultimately, this continuous growth advantage will translate into geopolitical and military influence. Secondly, China has already come very close to the United States in this cutting-edge technology field, even surpassing the United States in aspects such as electronic payments, 5G, and the quantity of papers and patents.

The institute believes that the launch of ChatGPT and Sora indicates that the United States holds a leading advantage in the foundational areas necessary for the development of artificial intelligence, including hardware, research and development, and talent, while China still lags behind the US in deep learning, core algorithms, and large language models. However, the institute also recognizes that China’s vast population size…

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Greensboro College Experiences Bad Data Security Breach


Hackers who went after Greensboro College got some of the most valuable personal information hackers can get ­– Social Security numbers.

And, though the scope of the attack still isn’t completely clear, one sign that it was quite vast is that some of the stolen information involved a teacher who taught there a quarter of a century ago and has had no other relationship with the university since.

Greensboro College is now in the process of warning those affected by the security breach that happened in mid-2023.

Data theft victims have just received a letter stating: “Greensboro College is writing to notify you of a recent event that may affect the privacy of certain information related to you. This notice provides information about the event, our response, and resources available that we are offering at no cost to you to help protect your information from possible misuse, should you feel it appropriate to do so.”

The “What Happened?” section of the letter states that the college detected “potentially malicious activity” on some of its computer systems.

Once the college discovered the breach, college officials notified law enforcement agencies, and conducted an internal investigation to determine the extent of the problem. That investigation found that some computer systems were subject to unauthorized access between August 10, 2023 and August 21, 2023.

Some of the data stolen includes names and Social Security numbers.

The college completed its study in early February of 2024 and began sending out notices.

Greensboro College stated that it is now, “instituting additional technical safeguards and policies and procedures,” and added, “Our response to this event also included prompt reporting to law enforcement and notification to relevant state and federal regulators.”

Greensboro College is offering those affected access to 24 months of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services at no cost.

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