Techmeme
July 19, 2021, 10:40 PM

Top News

Washington Post:
Of the 67 phones Amnesty's Security Lab probed, 34 were iPhones, of which 23 showed signs of a successful Pegasus infection and the others showed attempts  —  The text delivered last month to the iPhone 11 of Claude Mangin, the French wife of a political activist jailed in Morocco, made no sound.
The Guardian:
Snowden calls for spyware trade ban amid NSO news, saying the industry should not exist and “they don't make vaccines—the only thing they sell is the virus”  —  NSA whistleblower warns of world in which no phone is safe from state-sponsored hackers if no action taken
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Amnesty International researchers published a toolkit to help anyone scan their iPhone and Android devices for evidence of compromise by NSO's Pegasus spyware  —  Over the weekend, an international consortium of news outlets reported that several authoritarian governments — including Mexico …
Washington Post:
Phones of 22 Indian people, who were on a list of hundreds, were checked and 7 had been infected with NSO malware; the list included top opposition politicians  —  NEW DELHI — A powerful surveillance tool licensed only to governments was used to infiltrate mobile phones belonging …
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Dana Priest / Washington Post:
Bill Marczak / @billmarczak:
Ina Fried / Axios:
US, EU, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and NATO blame China for cyberattacks, including the massive attack on Microsoft's Exchange Servers in March  —  The U.S., NATO and other allies are collectively calling out China for malicious cyberattacks, including a March attack that exploited a flaw in Microsoft's Exchange Server.
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
DOJ unseals charges against four Chinese nationals, believed to be part of China-backed APT 40 hacking group; charging docs focus on activity from 2011 to 2018  —  The US Department of Justice has indicted four Chinese nationals today for hacking companies, government agencies …
Andrew Restuccia / Wall Street Journal:
Biden backtracks on his Facebook criticism, says he meant top users spreading vaccine misinfo were “killing people”, and urges Facebook to reduce misinformation  —  President says company isn't to blame for deaths, but adds it needs to do more to stop social-media users from spreading falsities
Muvija M / Reuters:
Tencent to buy British video game developer Sumo Digital for $1.27B, a 43% premium on Sumo's Friday closing price  —  Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) will buy video game company Sumo Group (SUMO.L) in a deal that values the British firm at 919 million pounds ($1.27 billion), the companies said on Monday.
Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
Filing: Robinhood is looking to raise as much as $2.3B in its IPO and sets a range of $38-$42 per share at a valuation as high as $35B  —  This is a developing story.  Check back for updates.  —  Robinhood is seeking a market valuation of as much as $35 billion in its upcoming initial public offering …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
IBM reports Q2 revenue of $18.75B, up 3% YoY, compared to estimates of $18.29B; revenue of Cloud & Cognitive Software unit, which includes Red Hat, is up 6% YoY  —  - IBM surpassed expectations on the top and bottom lines.  — The company spent $1.75 billion on acquisitions in the quarter.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
Introducing the UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation  —  UiPath's new platform empowers enterprises to experience the full power of AI to transform industries
Zoho:
The power of asynchronous communication: Striking the right balance in the workplace  —  Asynchronous communication may have surged during the transition to remote work, but as the years passed and teams returned …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
OpenAI Backtracks
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
How to fight Apple and (maybe) win, with Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Invest Like the Best:
David Senra - The Focused Few
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
HubSpot CEO on the Future of SaaS, AI, & Leading Through Change
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
Inside Devin: The world's first autonomous AI engineer that's set to write 50% of its company's code by end of year | Scott Wu (CEO and co-founder of Cognition)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Hard Fork:
The Dangers of A.I. Flattery + Kevin Meets the Orb + Group Chat Chat
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:40 PM ET, July 19, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Allison Johnson / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Gian M. Volpicelli / Wired UK:
GlobeNewswire News Room: