Twitter tests Delegate to substitute a former feature of the dying Twitter Deck

For the past 6 months, Twitter has been working on a new feature on Twitter Delegate to replace the Team feature originally present on Twitter Deck.

Back in December, a researcher found out that Twitter is working on this new feature and predicted it to launch soon. Six months later, the discoverer, Nima Owji is back with some news. He claims that this time around, the feature has two different sections to it.

The sections are more like user profiles. One is the Contributor while the other is Admin. Both the roles have different powers. A Contributor can send Direct Messages, post Tweets, and lastly, form lists. They can also view all of these activities on the account. It is all the basic things a Twitter user can do.

However, an Admin has more power than that. While the admin can perform all of these tasks, that is sending Direct Messages, publishing Tweets, and making lists, they can also control the Contributors. An Admin's greatest power will be to decide which Contributor to invite or remove. They can also view the account's analytics.

You'll be able to invite someone as a “Contributor” or an “Admin”! pic.twitter.com/14sb2tbB5j

— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) July 26, 2022

What Owji was unable to inform us, or discover, is how Twitter will look once the Delegate feature has been enabled. Since it is a work still under process, we have no way of knowing it. We do suspect that it might look like what Tweet Deck looked like. But we can't be sure until we see any more updates.

Another thing we’re not sure about is how many people will be able to use a Twitter account at once. Once accepted or invited by the Admin a contributor will be able to make tweets however the number of team members is still unknown.

This has been an active year for Twitter and we expect even more new features from the platform. But since most of these new features, and a few of the old ones, have been confined to the US only, we would like to see some regional diversity.

For now, we are impatiently waiting for Twitter Delegate to launch, and we are sure you are too.

Read next: Twitter Launches New ‘Discovery Hashtags’ For Communities That Link Users To Relevant Tweets
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Phishing Attacks Take LinkedIn By Storm, And Affect Facebook Business Accounts In The Process

A series of phishing attacks are cornering LinkedIn users, attempting to single out Facebook Business accounts for hacking and exploiting them.

Phishing attacks continue to rise at alarming levels and continue to infect social media platforms like ghouls haunting abandoned houses or, well, a virus. At any rate, social media platforms have their work cut out as well, considering how vast their user bases are. A few thousand individuals are manageable with a large enough team. Over 100,000 monthly users, and we’ve suddenly gotten ourselves the recipe for certain cybersecurity disasters. It’s why the likes of Facebook and Twitter had such difficulty in monitoring misinformation spreads across their platforms during the 2020 pandemic and lockdown period.

Social media platforms have also evolved to the point where they’re no longer just elaborate chatrooms with the occasional special feature. They’re comprehensive databases that harbor a metric ton worth of private user information. Phishing actors often conduct deep dives across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to gleam phone numbers, addresses, and credit card numbers off of specific accounts. Telegram even had entire private groups dedicated to black markets being set up where such information would be sold.

So, what’s the current phishing nightmare that social media sites are attempting to deal with? It all starts with an adorably named phishing campaign by the moniker of “Ducktail”. Doesn’t that just remind you of the popular Disney series starring Huey, Dewey, and Louie instead of, well, real-life criminals? The campaign is being conducted by either a singular threat actor or an entire troupe of them, originating from Vietnam. This information was compiled by and commented upon by cybersecurity firm WithSecure; the platform even states that these attacks have been ongoing since at least the end of 2021 December.

With an approach that seems sober and innocuous enough for LinkedIn, the phishing attack was carried out via a PDF file that contained hidden malware. Downloading the file opened the floodgates to informational exposure; threat actors could harvest 2FA codes, IP addresses, addresses, birthdays, numbers, and user IDs. Associated Facebook Business accounts were also exposed in the process, leaving users vulnerable on multiple fronts.

The easy methods of avoiding such attacks would be to carefully download sent files, and also keep scanning new files with malware detectors and whatnot.

Via: FreePik
Read next: The Google Play Store Is Harboring Malware-Containing Android Applications That Have Been Downloaded Thousands Of Times
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Google Gives Law Enforcement Agencies The Green Light To See Users’ Video Without Any Warrant

Following in the footsteps of Amazon, Google has reportedly granted full permission to respective law enforcement agencies to view users’ videos without any warrant.

The news comes as we saw a number of tech giants come forward and confirm to CNET how they would not be granting permission to authorities for the same purpose. Common names included the likes of Arlo, Anker, Eufy, and Apple.

The companies felt it was a huge violation of users’ privacy to grant footage belonging to users’ smart home devices, unless and until a specific warrant was provided in this regard or in the case that an order was granted by the court of law.

But despite the announcement being made public, Google and Amazon continue to defy people’s reservations and continue to behave in the exact opposite direction. So that means the police can show up without any warrant and take the data, in the case of an emergency situation.

It’s actually really very interesting to note how Amazon, which is the main leading organization behind most smart home hardware devices like doorbells, cameras, and even security systems managed to get the police involved with warrantless actions.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, it has got Google on board in terms of following in its footsteps with a similar privacy policy getting generated for law enforcement agencies who can get their required details via the firm’s Nest goods and services or in reality, any other place on Google without permission.

Meanwhile, the policies do mention how they would, in most cases, be liable to present legal orders or warrants, whenever they choose to hand the date over further. And in case they don’t, they would be subject to penalization as it would be against the law.

Like any other policy, some exceptions are made like those pertaining to an emergency situation. But surprisingly, Google, which promises to behave with great transparency, is yet to include any form of a clause that delineates an emergency request.

When asked to comment on the matter, the search engine giant revealed how it would never think twice before acting in a matter that involved a person’s life and death. Hence, in such exceptional scenarios, they were ready to give data to respective government agencies.

It even specified the situations to include those shootings, bombings, missing victims, and kidnappings among others.

On the other hand, one unnamed spokesperson from Google was seen shedding light on how the firm does its level best to try and inform users beforehand about their data being used in certain cases but again, no sign of emergency cases being outlined. Meanwhile, Amazon failed to respond to any comment related to such situations so we feel Google at least is doing a better job at that.

As far as things are concerned from a legal perspective, the firm is given full permission to share the types of data with the police, in case an emergency arises. But after carrying out thorough research on the prevailing laws in the system, there is no mandate that forces anyone to share.

Some tech companies against the policy argue that if the case is so urgent then getting a court order or a relevant arrest warrant shouldn’t take too much time either and hence that needs to be mandated into policy.

Another interesting twist in the story is how leading companies like Anker that are actually protesting against such policies have actually gone on to share user data in other ways with law enforcement agencies. And the same stands true for Meta as well.

Yes, they might not be giving your video access but they’re still guilty of the practice through other means.

Read next: Alphabet’s 2022 Q2 Earnings Report Shows Success With $69.7 Billion In Revenue
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

YouTube Introduces New Changes On The App For Creators Including A Safety Center And New Shopping Tab

For starters, YouTube (via its Creator Insider channel) provided an update for those recipients who applied for YouTube’s Shorts Fund in June. According to them, any creator who fulfilled the eligibility criteria was sent out notifications last week.

Next up, YouTube gave an update in regard to the launch of its Creator Safety Center Site. YouTube acknowledge how big of a risk it is for creators in today’s day and age, thanks to their very public presence.

Therefore, the platform plans on going the extra mile to make sure creators are well aware of proactive tools and steps required to combat any issues that they may be facing. Hence, to guarantee better safety online, the app launched a new online resource called Creator Safety.

This center can be seen as a webpage that’s centered around topics, information, and all sorts of resources that generally talk about safety online. However, they are specifically for those creators and content makers on the app.

Common topics that have been stressed include how users can protect themselves from online abuse, and how to combat issues like channel hijacking, and impersonations. Similarly, a list of proactive steps was also provided to help users protect their privacy online and which help organizations can be reached out to, in case there is any major crisis.

For the time being, YouTube says the new and helpful functionality is only available for content creators in the English language. However, it does have plans on expanding to other languages in the near future too.

Similarly, the platform does hope to collaborate with other regional organizations that are designed to help tackle such matters so YouTube can be a safe platform for all around the globe.

To gain access, creators can simply log into YouTube.com and click on the Creator Safety tab.

Last but not least, YouTube shared with its users an exciting launch pertaining to the renaming of its Merchandise under Monetization, in the Studio where users can click on the respective Shopping tab.

This new tab is being looked upon as the app as a new hub for all types of shopping features on YouTube. Therefore, all channels that have fulfilled the eligibility criteria in the past would be allowed to take part as before.

YouTube is asking its creators in particular, for feedback on the updates so it can better their user performance on the app in the near future.




Read next: Alphabet’s 2022 Q2 Earnings Report Shows Success With $69.7 Billion In Revenue
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Map Pinpoints Where Starlink Satellites Re-Enter Earth’s Atmosphere For Their Disposal

Have you ever wondered where Starlink's satellites burn on earth? Well, to many people's surprise, it's all across the atmosphere.

An astronomer by the name of Jonathan McDowell has recently launched a map that features the exact locations where Starlink satellites burn up across the earth’s atmosphere. And contrary to many people’s thinking, it takes place all across the planet.

The astronomer gained viral fame when he announced how diligently he was going to be tracking the exact locations pertaining to SpaceX’s satellite deathbed. And this exclusive report is providing so many of us with a clearer understanding of the unknown.

For a while now, the devices were seen burning up at different destinations in the atmosphere as confirmed by the constellations’ latest pathway.

The map was tweeted by the famed astronomer on Sunday and it featured the plotting of several re-entry locations from a whopping 100 different satellites. These were seen de-orbiting and then falling back into the earth.

McDowell was seen explaining how the locations are very random but go in line with the simple knowledge that the last week of orbital decaying and entering back to the atmosphere is not uncontrolled.

Their locations are vastly spaced out and very random with no fixed pathway being followed, he confirmed.

A lot of people were definitely concerned about the news as they feared that such incidents could result in various types of debris slamming into buildings or striking humans on earth.

But there is not a lot to worry about in that respect as SpaceX claims satellites can immediately break down when they make an entry back into the earth’s atmosphere. That is the specific way in which they have been designed by a firm that takes great pride in the safety of its devices.

SpaceX had also spoken about how the falling of satellites is such a quick and intense process because the atmospheric drag and the build-up of heat could result in small things falling apart immediately by burning up.

Speaking to media outlets, the astronomer says he never intended to make a post that would cause the public to worry unnecessarily.

In fact, he only wished to share the news to debunk myths about satellites falling at a specific location or following a specific path. All in all, it’s a great effort we believe, and one that’s gaining applause from those interesting in such astonishing findings.

When we look at stats from last December until now, around 110 satellites belonging to SpaceX have fallen back, as confirmed by the FCC. But the firm says that it makes sure there is zero risk to humans on the ground because it believes in following nothing but conservative techniques while satellites de-orbit.

Today, figures show how there are nearly 3,000 different satellites belonging to Starlink. And within their due time, of five years, we should see them burn up in the air, followed by the immediate introduction of next-generation devices as their replacements.

But the SpaceX company says this is just the beginning. It hopes to launch thousands more to help give users the best and fastest internet service around the world.

Read next: Are Big Tech Companies Biased In Their Hiring Toward More Prestigious Universities? New Study Reveals It All
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

How to Watch All Netflix Streams With a VPN

Netflix may have millions of titles, but they're limited by region. If you're in a region where your favorite title isn't available, you can't watch it. A perfect example is the recent Marvel film, Doctor Strange, which is available to stream only on the Netflix Canada library and not on any other Netflix region. However, you can still watch any Netflix title in any country by simply using a VPN.

What Is a VPN and How Does It Work?

Virtual private networks (VPNs) encrypt (or conceal) your internet traffic signal and disguise your (and device) online identity in real-time. Third parties cannot track your online activities or steal your online data.

When you use a VPN, it hides your device's (or network) IP address by redirecting it through a pre-configured remote server. The server is run by your VPN’s host and might be located in different areas. This means that when you use a VPN to surf online, your traffic's data source is the private network’s server and not your ISP's (internet service provider) server. As a result, your ISP and particular third parties won't be able to see your digital footprint, the websites you visit, or the online data you send and receive.

This is why you can set your VPN to tell the Internet that you're in a particular region or country. If the network host has a server pointed to that region/country, you'll be able to surf or stream content from that region without a hustle. This is how you can Watch Netflix with a VPN.

Choose the Right VPN to Watch Netflix

Before you start watching Netflix with a VPN, you need to understand that not all private networks can help you watch Netflix. You need a stable and reliable VPN that hosts servers in different regions around the world that works with Netflix. Furthermore, Netflix has put VPN detection measures in place, which it periodically upgrades to fend off people who try to bypass their regional restrictions. This makes many networks struggle to give reliable and secure access to cross-region streaming on Netflix. The private network you choose should have some of the following capabilities:

• It doesn't halt your Internet and allows reliable, high-speed internet streaming
• Can work with various regional Netflix libraries and other video streaming (host servers in many regions)
• Provide uncrackable encryption and other security features
• Supports various operating systems and devices
• Doesn't log your information, which Netflix and third parties could use to identify you
• Has prompt customer support

How to Watch Netflix With a VPN

Now, if you want to stream Netflix with a VPN, proceed to the following steps:

1. Select a reliable VPN that works effectively with Netflix. Check to ensure it has servers in many regions, including the region with many of the Netflix titles you want.
2. Sign in to the account (or create and sign in).
3. Download the VPN app on the device you'll be watching Netflix on and sign into it again.
4. Now, connect to the country or region with the Netflix title you want or one with a compatible server. When this is done, your Netflix will automatically change to that region once you sign in.
5. Now, with the VPN turned on, log into your Netflix account and stream your title.

Remember: Many VPNs will work with Netflix, but have limits on compatible servers, as Netflix blocks IP addresses that they determine are from VPNs.

Endnote

With VPNs, you don't have to forge your series when you travel or fail to watch a title because you're not in the supported region. VPN will help you watch your title and keep your surfing data safely.
by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Users encouraged to Download Software from Authentic Websites as Amaday Bot Makes its Way Through Again

With the advancements in technology, the strength of many malware attacks is increasing too. This statement has been proven true by the return of an old malware called “Amadey Bot” in the form of a new stronger variant. But the question is where did it come from?

People rather than purchasing expensive software tend to download them for free through unsecured websites. However, while they do get the software for free, the malware that follows is a reality none of us can deny. This is exactly from where Amadey Bot made its way back into the world of technology with a much stronger approach this time around.

AhnLab which discovered and is now studying the impacts of the returns of Amadey Bot issued a notice claiming that threat actors are distributing the Smokeleader, which is a malware dropped coded to infect the endpoint of Amadey Bot through the keygens and cracks that these unsecured websites have.

However, now that Amadey Bot has made its way back, it is important to understand what this malware is capable of. The malware is a four-year-old bot that is capable of dropping additional payloads and stealing massive information from one endpoint and delivering it to the other (including from your internet browsers).

Hence, this information stealing malware can prove to be harmful to companies for whom data is their biggest asset and for people who are pretty crucial about their information privacy.

While the malware is as dangerous as ever, it doesn’t mean one cannot prevent it, right? For people to ensure that their systems remain free of any such emerging malware, they should install the applications and software through authentic and recognized websites only and should run the anti-virus checkers on their system whenever the computer is working.

This way, not only will your system be secured from any harmful viruses but will also alert you in case any malware tries to make its way through.

Read next: Nearly 80% of Malware Attacks in Q1 2022 Caused by Microsoft Office Security Flaws
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World