Continuity camera-like feature is on its way for Android users

Apple’s renowned Continuity camera feature is under development for Android devices. Since 2012, Google has given users access to external webcams that can be used with either mobile phones or tablets, using these webcams for video calling. Not only this, but several third-party applications also offer services that would allow mobile phones to be used as a webcam for laptop or desktop calls.

But as per the latest reports, tech giant Google is planning to offer it as a built-in feature to their audience, a feature that works just like Apple's smartphones. Coding for this feature has already been sent to Android Open Source Project Gerrit, where it will be reviewed by engineers. The code was identified by Mishaal Rehman, an AOSP expert. According to Mishaal, Android will soon be able to offer a continuity camera-like feature that can be used on personal computers, whether Chromebooks or Macs.

With this feature on board, Android devices will be identified as having a USB video camera, which will make them compatible with several devices. The latest USB UVC-enabled file has already been created, which will be read by authorized apps only, including the main settings and gadget HAL.

Furthermore, a USB video class device driver has also been boarded on the generic kernel image. It is expected that the mentioned feature will make its debut this year with the latest Android version. However, it won’t be the first time with Android if the feature goes through several versions before reaching the goal that was originally set. Hence, if that’s the case with the feature, then it may take some time.

Those who want to use their mobile phone as a webcam without this feature, they can simply install an app that offers this service. The app needs to be installed on the mobile phone as well as the device with which the phone will be linked. Once the connection has been created, users will be able to use their Android phone as a webcam to be used either in video calls, recording lectures, or streaming.

Photo: The MobileDrop / YouTube

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The role of Twitter officials in throwing employees under Musk’s bus

Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter, the microblogging platform has become controversial with new Twitter policies and a large portion of the employees being laid off by the company.

From the beginning, when Elon Musk showed interest in buying the platform, everyone had their eyes set on what was about to happen. Initially, Elon Musk backed out after showing interest but was later forced to seal the deal.

Since that moment, Twitter employees, or as the company used to refer to them “Tweeps,” had no idea what was about to hit them. A recent study on this whole situation revealed how board members and executives played their role in going against their own words and values just for the sake of upcoming profit.

The top executives of Twitter left their stockholders at Musk’s mercy. Soon to be a trillionaire, Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter at a 38% stock price premium. Which means that he was ready to pay an extra amount to buy the platform. With this offer, the four executives collected $74.3 million. Not only this, but the restricted stock unit and performance stock unit added 138 million dollars to executives’ pockets. Eight non-executive directors also benefited from the deal, as they made 93 million dollars from it.

However, when it came to the employees’ protection, all hands were off deck. The deal didn’t include any limitations, such as how many employees could be laid off or at what pace the whole operation could take place. Not only this, but the deal didn’t include any compensatory steps that will be taken for laid-off workers.

• Also read: Moralized Language Might Be Making Hate Speech Worse

Back in April 2022, Parag Agrawal, the CEO at that time, told employees that the company had no intention of laying off workers. The platform even had a special webpage devoted to the employees working at Twitter. The webpage was aimed at showing how much Twitter valued its staff and supported them. But at the time of action, executives and board members went against their values.

When Elon finally took over the platform, he assigned 80 hours of work per week, with 40 hours to be spent in the headquarters. Followed by making his employees sign an agreement to either follow the long working hours or quit their job. However, the study believes that proper management could’ve prevented the long working shifts.

Read next: Twitter's Verification Process Under Scrutiny: Researchers Uncovers Dozens Of Bot Profiles With Blue Ticks
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

This Threat Actor is Putting Mobile Payment Systems at Risk

Banking malware is one of the most dangerous forms of malware out there because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up causing victims to suffer significant financial losses. A threat actor called InTheBox has been upping the ante on this front by using web injects that other malicious actors and hackers can buy in order to infect payment systems with various forms of malware.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that these web injects can be purchased for as little as $30 by individuals. They can be used to glean extremely sensitive data that would give malicious actors access to financial accounts, not to mention intercepting payments which can be harmful to all parties involved.

Numerous regions all around the world have suffered at the hands of these injects. They range from Australia to much of Asia including the Southeast, South Asia, and the Middle East. The US has also become a prime target for these web injects with all things having been considered and taken into account.

What makes things worse is that InTheBox is a verified Android vendor, which makes their potential attacks all the more significant. The massive increase in their web inject stockpile that was noted by Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs is quite a significant red flag because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up leading to a huge uptick in such attacks down the line.

All in all, mobile payment systems are at serious risk. Not only are they at risk of losing consumer confidence, but their own systems can end up being compromised which can lead to financial loss on a truly global scale.

Malicious actors can buy individual web injects along with packages that can cost thousands of dollars. This is a streamlined store that offers a multitude of options, all of which can create an endless array of issues that can bring global commerce through mobile payments to a grinding halt.

Read next: Cybersecurity Jobs Are Still Rising Despite Widespread Tech Layoffs
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Top 8 File Management Tools for Businesses

File management is an important function of any business. Usually, most businesses need all of their files to be sorted, kept, and tracked. However, choosing the best file management tool for your company is often challenging.

In this article, we will show you the top 8 file management tools for businesses, along with their features and advantages.

These tools can assist you in streamlining your file management process and increasing productivity, regardless of how big or small your business is.

1. Filestack

Filestack offers a great service for your file management needs. Some of its main features are OCR (optical character recognition), file upload, and support for well-known programming technologies. For example, JavaScript, Angular, React, PHP, and Python applications can take advantage of its powerful file management features.

Businesses can easily upload files using Filestack thanks to its user-friendly and platform-independent interface. Furthermore, Filestack has an OCR SDK that makes recognizing printed and handwritten text simple. In turn, it makes extracting text from pictures and documents a lot more efficient.

Filestack is a dependable and secure option for businesses of all sizes because it also includes strong security features like encryption and access controls.

Key features of Filestack

• Customizable integration
• Drag-and-drop file uploading support
• Automation for file uploads and organization
• Supports various file formats
• Reliable content delivery (fast viewing or downloading of content)
• AI features for file management (facial recognition, explicit content detection, OCR)

2. Cloudinary

Cloudinary is a cloud-based file management tool that provides a comprehensive solution for managing and delivering all types of media assets, including pictures, videos, audio files, and more. It provides a file upload API that makes it simple for businesses to upload, store, and manage their files.

Cloudinary also provides a vast array of image and video manipulation tools, including resizing, cropping, and optimization. It also supports many programming languages. For example, you can use Cloudinary as a file uploader for Python apps.

Moreover, Cloudinary also provides security features such as encryption and access controls.

Key Features

• AI-based content analysis
• Supports popular web development frameworks and programming languages
• Role-based user management
• Metadata Control
• Efficient and rapid support

3. Transloadit

Transloadit is a file management tool for businesses that provides a solution for file management, translation, and localization. It enables businesses to easily upload, store, and manage files, with support for popular formats such as PDF, Word, Excel, and others.

Furthermore, Transloadit includes a translation engine that allows businesses to translate their files into multiple languages. The tool also includes security features such as encryption, password protection, and access controls.

Key Features

• Easy integration with existing systems
• Built-in translation engine
• Support for multiple languages
• Localization and translation services
• Automated file processing and conversion
• File format support (PDF, Word, Excel, etc)

4. Uppy

Uppy.io is a simple, open-source file management platform that allows organizations to handle file submissions and manage their assets. Moreover, it has a simple interface that allows businesses to effortlessly upload, save, and manage their files. It also supports popular formats such as PDF, Word, Excel, and others.

Furthermore, Uppy.io includes an OCR engine that allows organizations to extract text from photos and PDFs, making it easier to maintain and search for documents. Uppy.io also supports major web development frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue.js, and it is simple to integrate with your existing systems.

This tool has support for major programming languages such as JavaScript, PHP, and Python.

Key Features

• Open-source file management tool
• User-friendly interface
• OCR engine for text extraction
• Integration with popular frameworks such as Angular, React, and Vue.js
• Plug-in support for additional functionalities
• Resumable uploads and support for larger file uploads

5. Shubox.io

Shubox.io is a JavaScript file upload API that allows organizations to handle file uploads and manage their files in a simple and easy manner. Furthermore, Shubox.io offers quick and direct file uploads to Amazon S3.

Shubox enables organizations to simply upload, store, and manage data. Moreover, it supports major file formats such as photos, videos, music, and more. Shubox.io also supports major web development frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue.js.

Shubox has three pricing plans. While they offer a free plan for personal projects, if you are doing a commercial project, it might not be enough.

Key Features

• Simple and intuitive design
• File upload and storage
• OCR engine for text extraction
• Secure file storage and transfer
• Real-time image processing and optimization
• Automated file organization and backup

6. Uploadcare

Uploadcare is a platform for managing files, letting businesses upload, store, and manage their data. Businesses can use its API-based approach to allow file uploads on their websites and applications.

It also facilitates integration with your current systems by supporting well-liked web development frameworks like Angular and React. Moreover, Uploadcare supports well-known programming languages, including Python, PHP, and JavaScript.

Key features

• Lightweight resources
• Support for various file formats
• Customizable metadata options
• Storable bandwidth support
• Cloud-based delivery and CDN support

7. AWS Glacier

AWS Glacier is a kind of Amazon S3 storage for long-term data backup and archiving. Customers may store large or small volumes of data using this service. AWS SDKs, AWS CLI, and REST API are among the choices the tool provides for file uploading and retrieval.

To automate data management operations, AWS Glacier also offers the possibility of integration with other AWS services like AWS Lambda, AWS SNS, and AWS CloudFormation.

Key Features

• Low-cost storage for data retrieving and long-term backup
• Secure and Durable
• Multiple options for file upload and retrieval
• Integration with other AWS services for automation
• Compatible with AWS SDKs, AWS CLI, and REST API.

8. Egnyte

Egnyte is a file management service that enables safe file sharing and teamwork within an organization. It provides options like versioning, access controls, and file syncing. Egnyte can be easily integrated with other tools and platforms thanks to its API integration for seamless file management.

Key Features

• Customizable access controls
• Version history and rollback
• Advanced search and metadata tagging
• Automated workflows and approvals
• Advanced reporting analytics
• Secure file storage and sharing

Conclusion

Today, businesses have a variety of file management tools to choose from.

Each of those tools has its own special features and capabilities. Filestack, Uppy.io, Transloadit, Cloudinary, AWS Glacier, and Egnyte are a few of the best options for the job.

These tools offer features like file upload, OCR, and version control and can be integrated with APIs. In the end, businesses should think about their unique requirements and assess which tool best satisfies their needs.

by Web Desk via Digital Information World

StatCounter released the market share report for web browsers, with Google Chrome leading the chart in January 2023

StatCounter recently released its January 2023 report on the market share of web browsers. Surprisingly, no significant change has been observed in the figures.

Starting as the leading desktop browser, Google Chrome has retained its position as the most widely used web browser. It holds a market share of 66.39 percent. The browser was successfully able to add 0.25 points to its share. Microsoft Edge came in second with a share of 11.09 percent. By gaining 0.11 points, the browser went from 11 percent to 11.09 percent in 2023. Tech giant Apple was not far behind, as Safari got the third spot with a share of 9.33 percent. Safari gained 0.32 points. Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox was successfully able to get the fourth spot with 6.87 percent of the market despite losing 0.34 points. And lastly, Opera took the 5th spot on the list by adding 0.12 points to its market share, bringing the figures up to 3.42 percent.

Moving on to mobile desktop browsers, once again, Google’s Chrome got the top spot with 65.35 percent of the market and gained 1.04 points. With Microsoft unable to introduce Microsoft Edge on Android or iOS devices, the browser could not make it to the list, hence the second spot was taken by Safari. Apple’s browser holds a share of 24.45 percent and gained 0.9 points. Next up, Samsung Internet, despite losing 0.6 points, still got the third position, leaving Opera in 4th. Opera added 0.14 points to its shares and held a share of 1.78 percent, and UCWeb’s UC Browser came in 5th with 1.47 percent of the market after losing 1.34 points.

The analytical company stated that the data was collected from over 1.5 million websites. Hence, there is still a chance of potential error, and as a result, the report may not be fully accurate. The company, however, did share insight on how the data is collected from different websites and later used in preparing the report.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

This Chinese Threat Group Just Flooded the App Store and Play Store With Crypto Scams

The rise of cryptocurrencies resulted in a number of threat actors deciding to use this asset as a vehicle for a wide array of scams, and it turns out that many of these scams managed to bypass security filters on the Google Play Store as well as the App Store. According to the cybersecurity research company Sophos, a China based group known as ShaZhuPhan has been implementing a highly organized attack that uses pig butchering techniques.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that so called pig butchering campaigns involve several different types of moving parts. Between malicious ads, fraudulent websites and social engineering, these threat actors have already been managing to trick unsuspecting users into falling for high yield investment scams.

The addition of apps will make them seem even more trustworthy which would allow them to target far more users than might have been the case otherwise. The malicious actors behind these attacks use stolen pictures of women on Tinder and Facebook to lure people, and they also post stolen photos of lavish lifestyles to trick their victims.

Ace Pro on the App Store and BitScan on the Play Store are just some of the apps that have been found to be taking part in this widespread crypto fraud campaign. Victims are usually told that they can put a small amount of money into an investment fund and get monumental returns, and they only find out that there are no real investments when it is far too late to do anything about it.

Victims are further tricked by being allowed to withdraw a little bit of cryptocurrency at a time, but in spite of the fact that this is the case their accounts are eventually locked and most of their funds get stolen. This is just one of the many examples of crypto fraud campaigns that are occurring, and Apple and Google need to do a much better job of ensuring that their users can stay safe from such scams in the future.

Read next: Identity Theft Incidents Increased by over 41% in 2022
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

TikTok Tries to Help Out Creators With New Video Insights

TikTok has been vying for complete control over the content creation industry, becoming the first major competitor to YouTube in this niche in the process. It turns out that TikTok is continuing its creator centered approach by introducing a wide array of new video insights that creators can use to understand their content and its reception better than might have been the case otherwise.

The reporting section of the TikTok Ads Manager will now have a new Video Insights analytic graph. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that creators can use this data to figure out how well their video performed, and they can also compare this performance to content that they released in the past.

The insights that creators can now glean are quite diverse. They can even obtain a frame by frame report that can reveal to them which frames their audience found to be the most engaging. Furthermore, they can take a look at their previous ad spending to get a good idea regarding how much progress it helped them make.

For a really long time, YouTube was pretty much the only platform that let creatives earn some kind of a living on their own terms. That wasn’t ideal because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up creating a monopoly that would leave creators with nowhere else to turn.

TikTok is clearly trying to break this monopoly, and while it itself may not be the best platform with all things having been considered and taken into account, it will definitely serve to keep YouTube on its toes. These new insights can also be a big help to creators who are looking to get ahead, since they can be used to modify their content in order to obtain better results.

The creator economy is increasing at a breakneck pace. Any platform that manages to position itself well enough could get a piece of that action, and that will lead to major progress for all parties involved.

Read next: A mere 10% of the world’s most popular creators use Instagram as their main social media platform.
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World