Good morning. We’re almost to the end of the week. Let’s get into the tech news.
1. Ticketmaster customers caught in cyber incident
The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that it’s working with Ticketmaster to understand the severity of a potential cybersecurity incident, ABC News reports.
Yesterday, Cyberdaily reported that the hacker group ShinyHunters took to a dark web forum to claim the theft of 1.3 terabytes of customer data, from 560 million customers internationally. The group is asking for $US500,000 in exchange for the data.
Leaked information supposedly includes partial credit card digits and customer details, like names, addresses, and emails. If you’re a Ticketmaster customer, please be vigilant of scams. Ticketmaster is yet to confirm the cybersecurity incident.
2. Big gains for NBN fibre-exclusive speeds
More and more customers are gravitating towards NBN’s superfast and ultrafast home internet offerings, with the NBN Co’s latest wholesale report indicating a growth from about 206,000 customers to 354,000 customers on the speed tiers surpassing NBN 100 in the last quarter, with 137,944 of those customers on the gigabit plan (as spotted by itNews).
NBN 50 remains the most powerful speed tier, with 4.3 million services in operation across all fibre technology types, and Telstra remains the market leader, tailed by Optus and TPG, though in fourth place, Vocus Group is closing in on Aussie Broadband.
DSL services continue to be phased out, with only 97,755 in operation as of March 24. Total NBN services have grown by 0.3 per cent.
3. Meta flags six influence operation takedowns
Meta’s latest Quarterly Adversarial Threat Report highlights that the company took down covert influence operations from Bangladesh, China, Croatia, Iran, and Israel, along with a coordinated inauthentic behaviour operation that targeted Moldova and Madagascar. “So far, we have not seen novel GenAI-driven tactics that would impede our ability to disrupt the adversarial networks behind them,” the report reads. “We’ve observed instances of: photo and image creation, AI-generated video news readers, 2 and text generation. We have not seen threat actors use photo-realistic AI-generated media of politicians as a broader trend at this time.”
4. Japanese car giants commit to greener engine development
Long hesitant on electrification Toyota, Subaru, and Mazda have come together to commit to the development of new engines that they claim will aid them in the pursuit of carbon neutrality. The companies are aiming to develop more compact engines that work in tandem with motors and batteries. “The new engines will be made carbon neutral by shifting away from fossil fuels and offering compatibility with various alternatives, including e-fuel (synthetic fuel), biofuels, and liquid hydrogen. In doing so, these engines will contribute to the broader adoption of CN fuels,” Toyota claims.
5. Apple reportedly working on Apple TV+ for Android
Apple TV+, the company’s streaming service offering, has long been exclusive to web versions and Apple devices, but a report from Bloomberg indicates that an Android app may be on the way. A job listing asking for an engineer with Android experience “to help build an application used by millions to watch and discover tv and sports,” was recently posted on the Apple website, implying that the streamer may be on the way for non-iOS users. As someone who uses Android and also subscribes to Apple TV+, this would be very welcome (the app is available on Android TVs, mind you).
BONUS ITEM: Whatever AI guys think they’re cooking, it sounds horrible.
Prediction: AI will displace social drinking within 5 years
— Jonathan Ross (@JonathanRoss321) May 29, 2024
Just as alcohol is a social disinhibitor, like the Steve Martin movie Roxanne, people will use AI powered earbuds to help them socialize. At first we’ll view it as creepy, but it will quickly become superior to alcohol
Have a lovely day.
Image: Gizmodo Australia