Good morning. We’re halfway through the week. Let’s get into the tech news.
1. Thousands of cybercrime incidents linked to Medibank hack
A joint Victoria police operation has found over 11,000 cybercrime incidents linked to the October 2022 Medibank hack, iTnews reports. In a submission to a federal cybercrime inquiry, police at the state and federal level have joined for ‘Operation Guardian’ to “identify, disrupt, charge, and prosecute” people involved with exploiting personal information relating to a data breach. It was set up after the Optus data breach but quickly expanded. The Medibank hack impacted 9.7 million people. “Once legislative frameworks are expanded to better enable search and seizure of data, appropriate tools will be required to ensure electronic capture and production is forensically sound,” Victoria Police added.
2. Google to restrict 2024 election AI prompts
Google has said on its India blog that it will start to enforce restrictions on its AI programs to restrict election results. “Out of an abundance of caution on such an important topic, we have begun to roll out restrictions on the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses,” Google wrote in a blog post. “We take our responsibility for providing high-quality information for these types of queries seriously, and are continuously working to improve our protections.”
3. Apple to allow apps downloaded directly from websites in the EU
Sweeping changes across Apple’s iOS ecosystem are continuing in the European Union, as brought by the Digital Markets Act, with the company beginning to allow for apps to be downloaded on iPhones directly from websites. “Web Distribution, available with a software update later this spring, will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer. Apple will provide authorised developers access to APIs that facilitate the distribution of their apps from the web, integrate with system functionality, back up and restore users’ apps, and more,” Apple said in a blog post.
4. TikTok planning legal battle over US divestment law
Bloomberg reports that TikTok is gearing up for a legal battle if the latest U.S. bill looking to crack down on the popular social video platform comes into effect. The bill would see TikTok forced to divest from Chinese parent company ByteDance, and if such a thing is forced, TikTok is preparing to defend itself in court, according to sources familiar with the matter.
5. NFTs still going great
Wrapping things up by whipping out the ugly monkey pictures. Engadget has the story on an NFT study, which has found that IP infringement is rampant in crypto marketplaces – who would have thought? “Trademark infringement and misuse is prevalent on NFT marketplaces,” the report from the US Copyright Office and the Patent and Trademark Office said. The joint report flagged “widespread concern that NFT buyers and sellers do not know what IP rights are implicated in the creation, marketing and transfer of NFTs and that NFTs may be used to facilitate copyright or trademark infringement.”
BONUS ITEM: Lmao.
Andrew Tate Arrested After Streamer Adin Ross Blabs His Escape Plan https://t.co/EEa3mB2AT1 pic.twitter.com/2LWbfgSGqn
— Kotaku (@Kotaku) March 12, 2024
Have a lovely day.
Image: iStock