Happy Halloween to those that celebrate. If you’re looking for something to watch tonight, we’ve got you covered with 31 brilliant Halloween movies to pick from, but this morning, we’ve got five bits of tech news to sink your teeth into. One or two are just as scary as the movies on that list.
1. Brisbane man arrested for using stolen data
A Brisbane man has been charged with buying stolen personal identification data online and defrauding hundreds of victims out of tens of thousands of dollars. The AFP alleges the man used the stolen identification information to make online purchases, create fraudulent bank accounts and gain unauthorised access to victims’ bank accounts. The AFP did say, however, that the stolen information does not relate to current investigations into breaches of data against Optus, Medibank Private or MyDeal.
2. It’s Elon’s world, we’re just the casualties
Elon Musk completed his $US44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Friday, firing the CEO, CFO, head of legal and the blue bird site’s general counsel within minutes. It is, so far, unclear which of the billionaire’s promises to unleash “free speech” upon the platform will actually come to fruition, but he’s moving full steam ahead with reports that Musk is “strongly considering making its users pay to remain verified on the service”. Either way, trolls are aplenty and The Guardian’s take is that the future of the site is going to be a disaster.
Finally, the truth that carbs are amazing can be said on this platform! #FreeSpeech
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2022
3. Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune dropped $100 billion
Still on the big boys of big tech and everyone’s favourite man who has legs in the online world, Mark Zuckerberg, had his net worth fall $11 billion last week to $36 billion. While $36 billion is still $36 billion more than we all have, it’s a massive blow, considering the man’s now lost $100 billion in the last 13 months. It’s almost like his completely pointless passion project, the metaverse, is a massive waste of time and no one cares – all people want is their Facebook feed to be presented chronologically, without ads.
4. USB-C charging and no volume buttons for the iPhone 15
Wired is reporting that Apple will indeed be bringing the USB-C ports to the iPhone 15. It follows the European Union passing legislation that requires all phones and tablets sold in the EU to use USB-C charging ports by 2024. There have also been reports that next year’s iPhone could be switching out its physical volume buttons. The next generation of the iPhone could feature solid-state buttons on the sides instead of mechanical ones. A solid-state button is essentially a mini trackpad, akin to the Home button on the second- and third-gen iPhone SE.
5. Problems with online verification
The Guardian is reporting that Australian rights groups say the federal government should rule out requiring identification documents as part of any online age-verification system, warning it could create a “honeypot” of personal data and pornography-viewing habits that could be exploited by hackers.
BONUS ITEM: Who doesn’t?
Stay spooky.