Weekend Edition 43

WE 1 – Chinese Gang Hacks Outlook
· Exploit in User token authentication found
· Taken advantage of by Chinese group which MSFT calls Storm-0558
· They accessed email accounts belonging to 25 different organizations
· Some were in the federal gov’t, including the Secy of Commerce
· US Gov’t (Mafia) notified MSFT about breach
· MSFT patched the exploit
· Normal lazy (according to license agmts from MS) reaction from MS
· If you’re tired of this, try Linux
· Better security
· Better privacy
· Proactive developers vs reactive vendor
https://www.pcmag.com/news/chinese-hackers-breach-us-government-email-accounts
https://techfreedom.pro/free-your-pc

WE 2 – Proton Releases Windows Proton Drive Client
· Proton is a name you should be familiar with if you value online privacy
· Email & VPN + Drive
· Windows app for Drive released
· Solid option
· Best thing, though, is to fully control your data
· Althatech.com
· Nextcloud
· Your hardware
https://www.techradar.com/computing/computing-security/google-drive-watch-outprivacy-first-proton-drive-lands-on-windows
https://althatech.com
https://proton.com

WE 3 – Too Much AI in Windows All at Once?
· Microsoft seems obsessed with this new data harvesting toy of theirs
· Co-Pilot
· Windows Store
· AI section, curated by AI
· Other implementations
· AI review summaries coming soon (think like on Google Search or Brave Search over the last couple of months) – Star wars Ep 2 - 3PO in droid foundry reference
· Trustworthy?
· Safe?
· Private?
· I hope it backfires and destroys Windows (What About Bob reference)
https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/windows-11-gets-more-ai-but-is-microsoft-pushing-its-luck

WE 4 – Class Action Against OpenAI from Sarah Silverman and other authors
· Fair use?
· Authors allege that it is illegal how these LLMs are trained on literally everything that has ever been uploaded to the internet, including books that most people probably won’t read
· It will be interesting to see how this winds up, as it will set some major precedents in the UK (venue for the suit).
· Should these models, which form the foundation on which so-called generative “AI” be permitted to utilize a person’s work without permission?
· What do you guys & gals think?
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66164228

WE 5 – FTC V Ripple Labs
· I hold a little bit of XRP, just to be transparent
· Mixed ruling
· Consumer side of XRP sales (through exchanges and whatnot) ruled to not be a security
· Industrial side ruled to be a security
· XRP free to be traded everywhere again
· If yours got stuck in an exchange like mine did, move it
· Wallets
· Cash out
· Not financial advice
· Will keep up on this as it develops further
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-says-sec-lawsuit-vs-ripple-labs-can-proceed-trial-some-claims-2023-07-13/

WE 6 - Microsoft/ Activision Blizzard Merger News
· Judge denied FTC’s motion to block deal
· Other methods
· UK CMA still not happy with deal
· Needs further reworking to get another look from CMA
· I don’t think that Microsoft needs its tentacles in any more places, frankly. That is my bias. I will exult in this deal not going through.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-rules-microsoft-deal-buy-activision-can-go-forward-2023-07-11/

WE 7 – Broadcom Wants to Buy VMWare
· Huh?
· Broadcom makes networking hardware
· VMWare is one of the main system virtualization vendors
· Why?
· Virtualization software gets used as a force multiplier in server environments
· What is it?
· EU greenlit the merger, but required some things
· 3rd parties get everything they need in order to make sure all hardware is compatible with the virtualization software
· Still has to get past the UKCMA and the FTC, I doubt that this $61 billion deal will make it through unaltered, but we shall see.
https://www.engadget.com/broadcom-gets-eu-approval-for-its-61-billion-merger-with-vmware-150140942.html