Protect All Of Your Data On Laptops Before You Take Them For Repair Because There's A High Chance That Technicians Snoop On It

When you take your laptop for repair, you must safeguard your data first. According to researchers in Canada, only a few tech repairs have privacy policies that keep your data safe while repairing your gadget. The study was conducted on 12 rigged devices that people left to repair an audio issue. After logging onto these devices, it was revealed that there was a huge privacy violation on these devices by technicians. These privacy violations included snooping on personal data, copying the data to another device, and even trying to erase their digital tracks by removing the evidence like they weren't even trying to violate the privacy concerns in the first place.

The email and gaming accounts, browser histories, important documents, revealing photos of men and women, and cryptocurrency wallets of six devices were shared with about a dozen national, regional and local service providers. About half of windows 10 was configured to appear that half of the devices were owned by half and another half by women. The researcher said that he was shocked by this news. The revealing photos were copied to an external device and one of the technicians copied a password-containing file.

This research also surveyed 112 people who said that they never repair their broken devices due to privacy concerns. But still, the overprotection of devices and the fear of losing important data drive people to repair shops. But this results in stolen data which is used for negative factors. It is important to work on privacy-related concerns of people who visit technicians frequently because, without these technicians, the devices cannot be repaired.

The electronic repair industry is widely spread throughout the world, and it has various economical and environmental advantages. But if the privacy violations keep happening, there is a chance that no one will go to the repair shops. The researchers are investigating more on the causes and effects of this problem so they can keep people safe from the horrors of getting to know about their leaked data. The research includes many OS developers, device manufacturers, repair service providers, and regulatory bodies who are taking action against these violations. People want their private data to remain safe when they are repairing one of their devices. We cannot stop this altogether, but if authorities work consistently there's a chance that the privacy of customers can be made a top priority in repair shops.

Read next: New Report Proves Apple’s Phone Usage Data For Some Apps Is Not Anonymous
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Most Americans Are Doubtful Of Reinstating Donald Trump’s Twitter Account

The average American is doubtful about the impact of reinstating former US President Donald Trump’s account on the app.

The news comes just days after CEO Elon Musk was seen asking his followers through a poll what they felt about having the country’s former commander-in-chief back in action on the platform.

For those who may not be aware, Twitter was a place where Trump spoke his mind and really had his supporters glued to their screens in terms of what his party wished to do next.

But it was all lost after Twitter opted to suspend his account for the January 6 Riots that were held in DC as they felt he was trying to incite violence and that went against the app’s policies.

Today, 44% of Americans feel that the decision to have him back should never have been taken in the first place. On the other hand, 43% felt it was the right decision and he had been suspended for way too long. Meanwhile, 13% expressed how they were just indecisive on what the right decision should have been.

These findings correlated to what Musk had polled last week where he says the decision was taken on the basis of the majority of people taking part in this poll as he feels the users have spoken and that’s what counts.

Musk says 52% mentioned yes while 48% said no. Now, it was asked by plenty of Americans if Musk made the right decision to use a poll to make such a serious call. And to no one’s surprise, most people said no. They felt there could have been a better way to decide and this just was not it.

We are yet to see any Tweet coming out from Trump after his account was reinstated. Moreover, the former US President has already spoken about how he might not be returning because Twitter is in shambles and he has a hard time seeing progress on the platform anytime soon.

Another poll was similarly conducted to ask people who they felt should be the ones tweeting the most from the app. And the majority felt the right answer was Trump while Elon Musk came in second.

Whether or not polls should be used in the first place and how reliable they actually are is definitely a question critics are considering.

H/T: MediaPost

Read next: Elon Musk Sends Congratulatory Wish To Twitter’s Team For Decline In Hate Messages
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Elon Musk Sends Congratulatory Wish To Twitter’s Team For Decline In Hate Messages

Twitter CEO Elon Musk was recently seen sending out congratulatory messages to his workforce at Twitter.

The billionaire seemed to be in high spirits after mentioning how there was a rapid decline in hate speech after he took over the app. And that might be the only news worth celebrating after seeing the devastating state of the company’s condition.

Musk mentioned in bold terms that the number of hate impressions had gone down by a massive third and that was after a striking spike took place during this month.

As declared by Musk, a lot of the hate arose thanks to racial slurs and purely offensive content.

Meanwhile, a recent report set out by the Independent spoke about how Musk is very keen on allowing freedom of speech to take center stage on his platform. He similarly wishes to clear out all rumors of misinformation and wants people to have access to the app as a way to communicate how they feel. He knows really well that if tweets are filled with nothing but hate, fewer people would end up seeing them. And that means a lot fewer impressions across such a tweet.

Then we saw the Twitter owner mention how at least 1500 different accounts were the ones behind the ordeal but those have now been eliminated and that’s why we’re seeing a reduction in such posts’ reach. The rise of such hateful content during the start of November and then a rapid decline means great things for the app, Musk adds.

And he couldn’t be more proud of his workforce doing their best to keep such posts at a minimum and seeing a limited reach.

Further examination of such an endeavor makes one realize that the rise of hate speech on the app is different in figures outlined by Musk and that recorded by the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

Musk continues to argue about how that hate speech was being recorded at new lows and no matter what other media reports may claim, he’s sticking by his own stats.

But critics feel there is nothing major to celebrate at this point in time because trends keep changing and seeing the way advertising agencies are pulling out and reducing the company’s revenue is more concerning than anything else. And we couldn’t agree more.

Read next: Twitter Closes The Doors On Its Office In Brussels After EU Threatens Stricter Rules
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Report Shows How Local News Organizations Are Growing by Going Digital

Many people have been commenting on the impending demise of local news organizations who were ostensibly going to get swallowed up by much larger companies who are looking to expand their reach and influence. In spite of the fact that this is the case, local news agencies have managed to hold their own, and one of the many tactics they are using to fight off the rising tide of global corporate news conglomerates involves them offering digital subscriptions.

The Medill Subscriber Engagement Index surveyed 8 local daily news publications centered in major metropolitan areas. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that six out of these eight companies have shown a massive year over year increase in the number of subscriptions they are receiving.

Direct subscriptions can greatly benefit local news agencies because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing them to get their news directly to the consumer without relying on any third parties. It also helps consumers get their local news fix in an easy and consumable manner, and it also provides a vital source of revenue for the aforementioned local news services.

Unique visitors have been declining for local news sites, and paid subscriptions can help them to keep going for longer than might have been the case otherwise in the wake of this decrease. Approximately 20% of users said that they are willing to pay for quality news coverage according to a recent survey conducted by Reuters. That might shift the balance in favor of quality as opposed to quantity.

Switching to paid subscriptions instead of blindly driving up traffic can make local news provision more sustainable in the long run. If even 2% of readers subscribe to a local news service by paying a monthly fee, this can greatly stabilize the industry and help it fend off aggressive acquisition attempts. Subscription based businesses are on the rise, and it will be interesting to see where local news ends up fitting into all of this.

Read next: 10 famous business leaders share their secrets to effective delegation
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

A Phishing Gang Known As Ducktail Is Using LinkedIn and WhatsApp To Hijack Business Accounts on Facebook

A phishing gang called Ducktail has been active since 2021, and there is no chance that it's slowing down anytime soon. WithSecure, a cybersecurity firm, says that initially this gang was small but as time is passing, it got huge and there's no one stopping them. Right now, Ducktail is quite active on LinkedIn where it uses some LinkedIn accounts to target organizations and individuals on many business platforms including Facebook Ads. Then they hijack those business accounts and use them to their advantage.

WithSecure says that now many people know about the hijacking tactics of Ducktail, it has changed its ways of operating and now works differently. Now Ducktail has migrated to new platforms where it is easy to target people for phishing. One of the platforms is Whatsapp where they hide malware-infected files. When these files are opened, it steals all the information and data of the users, including their images, videos, and documents. They are getting excellent in their approach to these phishing attacks. Now Ducktail retrieves information and data by creating a legitimate-looking email, which upon opening steals all the worthy data on the device.

One of the reasons why Ducktail isn't getting caught is because it always keeps on changing its way of stealing. It changes its file format and other documents which makes it impossible to trace them online. WithSecure also reports that the gang is also setting up its business in Vietnam where it is hiring new and experienced workers. Many companies are scared because there's no way they can keep their personal and business accounts separate. This way if Ducktail attacks their business account, the personal account will also get hijacked.

The global head of WithSecure says that having the same account for business and personal use can cause problems when Ducktail attacks because to follow the tracks of the gang we have to go through the business as well as a personal account. This can also include the history of the Facebook account, which is not acceptable in the ethical and legal sense. This issue is worrying the organization and employees so they are thinking of new ways by which they can dodge the risks associated with it. Now they have to think of a good way to get a hold of this phishing gang before it causes more damage to businesses all around the world.

Read next: Security Experts Raise The Alarm Against 1500+ Mobile Apps Leaking API Keys
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Elon Musk Says Activist Groups Tried To Kill Twitter So He Backtracked On Making A Content Moderation Council

The drama in the world of Twitter continues as billionaire Elon Musk backtracks on his plans to make a new content moderation council.

It was just a week back when Musk confirmed to the world that he would not be the one calling the shots in terms of allowing more people back on the app. He was seen mentioning how a decision would only be taken after a content moderation council stepped in and started to reinstate accounts on the app that had the ban label mentioned across them.

But then all of a sudden, we saw the likes of former US President Donald Trump come forward on the app after Musk allowed him to. Yes, his ban was removed after a poll mentioned that people wanted Trump back and within seconds, the decision was made.

So what exactly happened to that council that was supposed to come forward? Where did it go? Well, on Wednesday, Elon Musk revealed that a huge coalition of activist groups was present with the intention to kill Twitter. He sees them as on a mission to starve the app of revenue generated through the likes of advertising.

Therefore, he was not going to make that happen. According to him, they broke the contract and he was now going to bin the idea of having any content moderation council in place. But it’s very interesting as many feel that the new Twitter chief is trying hard to blame others for his own shortfalls and disasters on the app.

The poll he conducted showed a whopping majority of votes in favor of Trump’s account being reinstated. And now, we’re seeing another poll take center stage. This has to do with a question about what users felt about having all banned accounts reinstated.

• Also read: Twitter Could Soon Be Reinstating All Banned Accounts Thanks To Elon Musk

But seeing Trump back on the platform is not being loved by so many individuals. Critics slammed the decision and called Musk’s shots senseless. At the same time, they revealed he failed the country’s democracy.

Critics are calling such polls garbage as they feel it should have no room on the app as they fail to take the current situation into consideration.

So is the world surprised that we’ve got a man that’s backtracking on his own words by putting forward actions that don’t make sense to the majority of others? Well, not exactly. He is Elon Musk and he’s known for such irrational decision-making.

Photo: Patrick Pleul/AP

Read next: Elon Musk Surprises World By Hiring Fake Twitter Quitter Who Claimed He Was An Engineer
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Elon Musk Surprises World By Hiring Fake Twitter Quitter Who Claimed He Was An Engineer

Elon Musk is known for making some surprising decisions and recently, we saw the billionaire go as far as hiring a fake Twitter quitter.

For those in search of the background story, well, Musk adopted the liking of two different men who managed to fool various members belonging to the press with claims into believing they were actually engineers on Twitter that had been fired. But now, one of them is even working under Musk in his firm.

The man is named Daniel Francis and it wouldn’t be wrong to mention that he is now an integral member of the workforce and capable of duties on Slack channels. As mentioned in pictures by Insider, Francis was observed pretending like he had been fired and did succeed in making the press a fool.

The duo posed as if they were in a dire position and had nowhere to turn to after getting laid off. So much so that media outlet began to believe them. But that was far from the reality of the situation.

We saw Francis alter his name across various interviews to try and gain sympathy without ever being caught. He wished to walk out from Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco and now, he is reigning supreme at Musk’s firm.

Now, new reports are shocking so many people because we are speaking about a man who never worked on the platform. For now, we know the position is temporary as he is working as a software developer. But who knows, it could really turn into something big very soon.

The hoax ended up launching a major debate regarding whether or not Elon Musk started such layoffs and when they would be expected. It really kicked off some chaos and then after a few weeks, under Musk’s leadership, we saw firings begin to take center stage.

Today, the workforce of Twitter stands at just 3,500 and this coupled with mass resignations has made the figure 2,300.

So Musk did end up embracing this hoax and he invited the duo back to the firm last week. There were plenty of images that came along with it showing both men at the office where Musk was spending so much of his time.

Francis spoke a lot about how much he admired the app and within no time, Musk gave him a job on that basis. He even captioned an image that featured the two men and how excited Musk was to welcome them back, admitting that he was in the wrong to fire them.

The whole scenario is a little funny and amusing if you ask us, while critics are finding it hard to believe. But when you’ve got a billionaire like Elon Musk involved, you can expect the unexpected, that’s for sure.

Whether or not that was the right move on Musk’s part, well, only time can tell but we do think it’s a very funny decision.

Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum

Read next: Twitter Could Soon Be Reinstating All Banned Accounts Thanks To Elon Musk
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World