Techmeme
December 18, 2020, 6:35 PM

Top News

Reuters:
An analysis of publicly available web records shows SolarWinds hackers accessed the networks at Cox Communications and the local government in Pima County, AZ  —  LONDON (Reuters) - Suspected Russian hackers accessed the systems of a U.S. internet provider and a county government in Arizona …
Brad Smith / Microsoft On the Issues:
Microsoft identified 40+ customers targeted in the SolarWinds hack, 80% in the US, says the attack is “ongoing” and calls for a global cybersecurity response  —  The final weeks of a challenging year have proven even more difficult with the recent exposure of the world's latest serious nation-state cyberattack.
Washington Post:
CISA issues an alert that says evidence suggests attackers used malware to access US systems, beyond SolarWinds vulnerabilities, but offers no other details  —  Federal investigators reported Thursday on evidence of previously unknown tactics for penetrating government computer networks …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Politico:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Microsoft is working on in-house designs for chips to run its cloud servers and Surface PCs  —  Microsoft Corp. is working on in-house processor designs for use in server computers that run the company's cloud services, adding to an industrywide effort to reduce reliance …
Scott Simmie / DroneDJ:
China-based drone maker DJI is among the companies the US Commerce Department has added to its blacklist  —  An updated “Entity List” is bad news for the world's largest drone manufacturer.  DJI has been put in the company of Huawei and others, a move that will have negative consequences for the firm.
Reuters:
US to add ~80 more Chinese companies and affiliates, including SMIC, to the trade blacklist  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is set to add dozens of Chinese companies, including the country's top chipmaker SMIC, to a trade blacklist on Friday, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
Kara Swisher / New York Times:
The only explanation for its ad campaign against Apple is that Facebook has decided shamelessness works, after years of cozying up to the Trump administration  —  The company declared in newspaper ads that it was “standing up to Apple.”  It's a desperate ploy that's unlikely to work.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Sony has removed Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store until further notice, offering full refunds to people who bought it, amid reports of it being buggy  —  You can request a refund now  —  Sony is pulling Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and offering full refunds for anyone …
Patricia Hurtado / Bloomberg:
DOJ charges a China-based executive at a US company with disrupting video meetings commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre; source says the US company is Zoom  —  - U.S. says worker disrupted Tiananmen Square commemorations  — Zoom says it fired Xinjiang Jin after internal investigation
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
Apple clarifies power-saving modes of AirPods Max, says they enter low power mode after 5 minutes of non-use and ultralow power state after 18 hours in the case  —  When Apple unveiled AirPods Max last week, it revealed that they don't come with an on/off power button, but instead enter an …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Judge says DOJ's antitrust lawsuit against Google likely won't go to trial until late 2023  —  - The Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google likely won't go to trial until late 2023, Judge Amit Mehta said at a status hearing on Friday.  — The judge set September 12, 2023 as a tentative date to start the trial.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Amazon launches group video and audio calling for up to seven participants on Echo devices  —  It's also coming soon to the Alexa app  —  Amazon is launching a new group video or audio calling feature for Echo devices today, just in time for the holidays.

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