White House points finger at North Korea as the source of 2017’s WannaCry attack

The United States is publicly attributing the WannaCry ransomware attack to North Korea, counterterrorism adviser Thomas Bossert said during a White House briefing. The attack took place for three days in May across 150 countries using the WannaCry ransomware cryptoworm, which encrypted Windows-based PCs and demanded Bitcoins in return.

“This was a careless and reckless attack,” he stated. “It affected individuals, industry, governments. And the consequences were beyond economic. The computers affected badly in the UK and their healthcare system put lives at risk, not just money.”

The United States isn’t simply throwing out accusations in a heated war of words. Bossert said the White House made its final decision “after careful investigation” backed by evidence, and a unanimous agreement with Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Microsoft is even involved, tracing the WannaCry attack back to “cyber affiliates” of North Korea’s government.

So what now? First, the briefing is part of a public move to hold North Korea accountable for its actions. Second, the United States will spearhead a plan that will bring the government and corporations closer together, thus increasing the cost for hackers by strengthening the nation’s cyber defenses. Good cooperation between the two entities will bring improved security across the board, Bossert said.

During his briefing, Bossert said Microsoft, Facebook, and other technology entities already began purging exploits used by North Korea and shutting down accounts used in attacks. They did so on their own without any government nudging, although he gave a special acknowledgement to Microsoft, whixh addressed exploits prior to the attack that kept many U.S. targets out of the line of fire.

“We call today — I call today, and the President calls today, on the private sector to increase its accountability in the cyber realm by taking actions that deny North Korea and the bad actors the ability to launch reckless and disruptive cyber acts,” he said.

Most of what he said during the White House briefing made its way into his op-ed post on The Wall Street Journal. But the briefing also introduced the nation to Jeanette Manfra, Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security. She will be joined by Christopher Krebs and Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to coordinate operations with corporations to beef up cyber security on all fronts.

As an example of a government/corporate collaboration, Manfra relayed the events that began when WannaCry began attacking the Asia-Pacific region. By the end of the first day, all major local internet providers, IT and cybersecurity firms, and more than 30 companies across the nation were providing analytical assistance. This local collaboration between the government and the private sector helped defend the United States against the brunt of the WannaCry attack.

“In many ways, WannaCry was a defining moment and an inspiring one,” Manfra said. “It demonstrated the tireless commitment of our industry partners, a moment that showed how the government and private sector got it right.”

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The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will display an iPhone 5s

Director Sean Baker ripped up the filmmaking rulebook by shooting his Sundance hit Tangerine on an iPhone 5s. Now, over two years since the flick scooped more than seven times its budget at theaters, the Oscars has come knocking. No, the filmmaker isn’t getting a belated gong (although his current indie success story The Florida Project could change that). Rather, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is pinching one of three iPhone 5s handsets used to film Tangerine to display in its upcoming Academy Museum. You’ll be able to see it for yourself, alongside film memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz and Alien, when the 300,000 square foot space opens its doors in 2019.

Tangerine follows a day in the life of a transgender sex worker who discovers her pimp boyfriend has been cheating on her. Baker revisits the Hollywood location where one of the film’s climactic scenes takes place in the Academy’s announcement video (above). The director also talks of the equipment he used, including the soon-to-be immortalized iPhone 5s, outfitted with an an anamorphic adapter made by Moondog Labs, and a Steadicam rig. The film was edited using the $8 Filmic Pro app.

If that doesn’t inspire a bunch of aspiring filmmakers to shoot on the fly, then nothing will. And with awesome camera tech now on plenty of flagships, from the LG V30 to the iPhone X, you’ve no excuse.

Source: Oscars (YouTube)

Changes to Google Play Store will require apps to be optimized for newer Android versions

Android security depends on secure apps and Google has some big plans.

Google has made some significant announcements on its Android Developers Blog centering around some new policies developers will need to follow to continue publishing to the Play Store. Google says that starting in August 2018 all new apps submitted will need to target Android Oreo, and in November 2018 updates to existing apps will need to do the same. In addition, starting early in 2018 there will be some extra metadata added to the app file (the .apk file) to verify it’s authenticity and in August 2019 all apps will be required to provide a 64-bit version even if they target any native Android libraries.

In the second half of 2018, Play will require that new apps and app updates target a recent Android API level. This will be required for new apps in August 2018, and for updates to existing apps in November 2018. This is to ensure apps are built on the latest APIs optimized for security and performance.

In August 2019, Play will require that new apps and app updates with native libraries provide 64-bit versions in addition to their 32-bit versions.

Additionally, in early 2018, Play will start adding a small amount of security metadata on top of each APK to further verify app authenticity. You do not need to take any action for this change.

Google says these changes are to help make the apps we use as secure as Android itself. They’ve given some simple examples that explain just how these changes will help here.

Right now, a developer can upload an app targeted towards an old version of Android and not ask for permission to see things like camera data or location when you first run it because those became official with Android Marshmallow (API 23). Adding metadata to use as a check for authenticity makes sense here because that can be used to separate apps that were downloaded from Google Play from other sources for installations (as well as be used for copy protection if Google wanted to do so), and requiring 64-bit versions of apps is getting things ready for application processors that don’t support 32-bit binaries.

A side effect of these changes will affect how manufacturers update devices as well as the practice of selling new devices with older versions of Android.

Next August, all new apps submitted to Google Play will have to be targeted for Android Oreo. In November, updates for existing apps will also need to be targeted for Oreo. These requirements will advance each year so apps in August 2019 will need to target the next version of Android. Each year the same thing happens and new apps or updates to existing apps won’t be accepted unless they target a recent version.

Existing apps that don’t get updated will be allowed to stay, and the development tools will still allow the creation of apps targeted for old versions. But Google Play won’t. Apps designed for old software don’t make use of Android’s newer features and are less secure because of it.

When your phone can’t run the app you want because the software is old, you’ll notice.

As a result, companies who sell phones with old versions or forget about those phones when it comes time to update them will stand out because the products won’t have access to new or newly updated apps. Google says they encourage developers to do what they can to make apps backward compatible, but we all know how things go when they’re only suggested or encouraged. Look at the state of tablet apps on Google Play as an example here. These changes will effectively shut out phones with old versions when it comes to the newest apps.

We expect to hear plenty more about these new policies before they go into effect and have some questions about how the new “authenticity” metadata will be used to get answered. But we like the idea of Google doing what it can when it comes to keeping our data safer and the apps that want to use it in check a little better.

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Duolingo adds French and German to its short story library

Six months ago, language learning service Duolingo introduced new mini-morsels of content called Stories. They walked users through short tales that would ideally be more organic than scripted conversations. Today, the service announced it’s expanded beyond Spanish and Portuguese by adding 20 Stories each in French and German.

Duolingo launched Stories as an experiment, as its team points out in an August update, so they aren’t sure when (or if) they’ll add more languages. Expanding up to four is a good sign, though, and shows promise for the service’s experiments beyond typical lessons. Earlier this month, Duolingo launched a podcast focusing on Spanish-language non-fiction stories, which can be found on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify and elsewhere. Stories remain on the Duolingo site, but as it’s still in beta, they don’t add XP for participating — they’re just for your own learning pleasure.

Source: Duolingo

Android apps must have 64-bit support by August 2019

Android has supported 64-bit apps ever since Lollipop arrived in 2015, but they haven’t been necessary. Now, however, Google is laying down the law… or rather, it will. As of August 2019, Android apps will have to support 64-bit code. They won’t have to ditch 32-bit compatibility, but they can’t cling exclusively to the past, either. There will eventually be Android devices that will only support 64-bit code, Google noted, so it’s important that developers make the leap.

There are requirements coming sooner than that. In August 2018, new apps will have to target Android Oreo’s programming interface. They won’t require Oreo, but they won’t get away with skimping on newer features, either. Updated apps will have to make the advancement in November. Google will also step the requirement forward with each new year, preventing devs from getting too comfortable.

A security upgrade is coming in early 2018, although coders won’t have to worry about those. Google is sprinkling a “small amount” of security metadata on early 2018 to prove that apps were distributed through the Play Store. Think of it as a “badge of authenticity,” Google said.

Google isn’t exactly on the cutting edge of mobile 64-bit support. Apple started requiring 64-bit code for iOS apps in February 2015, and iOS 11 dropped 32-bit apps in September. However, this is bound to have a significant impact on the smartphone world. Now that Android app developers have no choice but to step up their game, you should see the overall feature support improve. The 64-bit requirement won’t magically lead to faster or more powerful apps, but it could encourage developers to fine-tune their apps if they’ve been overly cozy with 32-bit software.

Source: Android Developers Blog

HTC Vive owners can now get social with Oculus Rift friends in Facebook Spaces

Facebook’s Rachel Rubin Franklin said on Tuesday, December 19, that Facebook Spaces is now available for the HTC Vive VR headset. Formerly available only on the rival Oculus Rift model, Vive owners can now get on Facebook’s VR social bandwagon to experience the popular network in a whole new, up-close-and-personal way.

“Vive owners will find all the same fun features as the Rift version — you can create your own avatar, view Facebook photos and 360 videos, play games, draw with markers, go Live, make Messenger video calls, and (my favorite) take awesome selfies,” Franklin says. “Plus, it’s cross-platform compatible, so Vive users can also hang out in Spaces with friends who use Rift.”

Facebook Spaces arrived on the Oculus Rift in April. The idea was to bring Facebook users into a virtual space where they could hang out together, interact with the environment, play Pictionary or tic-tac-toe by drawing in the air, and so on. Spaces also incorporates other Facebook-related services such as Messenger video calling, timelines, photos, pages you follow, 360 videos, and more.

HTC Vive owners will start their Facebook Spaces adventure by creating an avatar based on an uploaded photo. From there, they can customize the avatar’s eye color, facial features, hairstyles, and more. After that, they can jump into a virtual environment, and invite friends with HTC Vive or Oculus Rift headsets.

Facebook Spaces is not currently compatible with the Oculus-powered Gear VR. But the Oculus Rift with its Touch controllers and sensors now only costs $379, which is far cheaper than it was when Facebook Spaces arrived in April. At the time, the headset/controller bundle cost $598, down from a heftier $798.

But now Facebook is expanding into Vive territory. The kit costs a more expensive $500, and includes two motion controllers, two base stations, a link box, and earbuds. Of the two, the HTC Vive reportedly had control of the PC-based VR headset market until Facebook dropped the Rift’s price to $379. The social network saw 210,000 units shipped in the third quarter while HTC only saw 160,000 Vive headsets sold during the same period.

But Facebook doesn’t plan to stop with the HTC Vive, as Facebook Spaces is slated to arrive on other VR platforms and devices in the future. One of those platforms could be the new Windows Mixed Reality headset family now hitting the market. These include the Lenovo Explorer, the Samsung Odyssey, the Dell Visor, and two others.

“VR is such a powerful way to feel present with the people you care about when you can’t physically be together,” Franklin added. “With Facebook Spaces, we’ve always been committed to bringing the power of social VR to as many people as possible, across platforms and devices.”

Facebook Spaces is still listed as a beta, so expect changes as Facebook shapes the platform based on feedback. You can download the HTC Vive version of Facebook Spaces here, while the version for the Oculus Rift is available here.

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‘Sunday Night Football’ will arrive on all your devices for the 2018 season

You don’t have to muscle your way up to the front of the bar to catch the big game — at least, not when 2018 comes around. NBCUniversal announced this week that beginning next year, NBC Sports will be streaming all of Sunday Night Football to all possible platforms. So no matter where you are, you can cheer like a maniac for your favorite team.

Made possible by Verizon’s decision to give up its exclusive rights to stream NFL games on mobile phones, this announcement means that Sunday night games will be made available on smartphones, desktops, tablets, and of course, connected TVs. Moreover, as part of NBCU’s deal with the NFL, the media company will be extending TV Everywhere rights to NBCUniversal cable, satellite, and telco partners.

While NBC Sports Digital has long been available on desktops, tablets, and connected TVs, 2018 will be the first year in which mobile phone owners will be able to watch Sunday Night Football from their handheld devices as well. Alas, you’ll also have to put up with the national and local affiliate ads on your phone, because not everything is perfect.

“This is an exciting day for NBC Sports. We have been streaming Sunday Night Football on numerous platforms since 2008, but as a result of this agreement, 2018 will be the first time we can stream primetime television’s No. 1 show on all digital platforms, creating a more seamless viewing experience for NFL fans,” said Rick Cordella, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. “In addition to fans, this mobile agreement benefits our distribution partners, local affiliates, and advertisers, as it significantly extends SNF’s digital reach.”

It will be a big year for NBC and football, as the network has won the rights to broadcast and stream Super Bowl LII on February 4. You will likely want to watch that game, however, on a screen larger than your iPhone. But as for all the other action leading up to the biggest matchup of the year, rest assured that you can catch every play from just about anywhere (provided you have Wi-Fi or good service available).

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Eat our dust, Elon Musk. Virgin’s Hyperloop One sets crazy new speed record

Virgin’s Hyperloop One has set a new speed record with its hyperloop pod transportation system, leaving Elon Musk’s efforts to this point in the dust.

The magnetic pod achieved speeds up to a jaw-dropping 240 miles per hour — or 351 feet every second — at DevLoop, the world’s first full-scale hyperloop test site in the Nevada desert. That’s 48 miles per hour faster than its initial tests last summer, and 20 miles per hour faster than the previous record set by Musk’s hyperloop pod. If you’ve ever wanted a preview of what it’s like to travel at hundreds of miles per hour in a hyperloop, check out the video above.

“The XP-1 Virgin Hyperloop One’s test pod performed as designed, handling high speeds and levitating in a vacuum tube depressurized to the equivalent of flying at 200,000 feet above sea level,” Ryan Kelly, director of marketing for Hyperloop One, told Digital Trends. “In the testing footage, you can see a 28.5-foot-long and 8.9-foot-tall vehicle propel at high-speeds down the world’s first full-system hyperloop test track. This test brings the vision of the hyperloop much closer to reality.”

The test was carried out on December 15, although the company announced the news this week. During the test, all components of the system were put through their paces — including the airlock, electric motor, advanced controls and power electronics, custom magnetic levitation and guidance, pod suspension, and the vacuum.

The tests were conducted in a 1,600-foot-long concrete test tube. Kelly thinks that greater speeds will be achieved in the future, although you will likely have to wait a bit to see them — but it’s not the pod’s fault. “DevLoop is a short track and speed is an output of length,” he said. “As systems get longer, you’ll see faster speeds.”

Hyperloop One also announced that it has raised an additional $50 million to help continue making its high-speed dreams into reality. The record that we would absolutely love to see next? Actually getting this thing to market so that we can try it for ourselves. We’re resigned to the fact that this may take a little while longer, though.

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Windows 10 Timeline hands-on

Microsoft thinks the way you use your desktop hasn’t kept up with the times, and wants to do something about it. Its answer is Timeline, a new feature for Windows 10 that we tried November. It’s now available to Windows Insiders as part of build 17063.

Timeline is a new task view that’s based on, well, time. Apps are listed chronologically so you can easily scroll down to find a specific document, application, or group of applications you were working with. It even works across devices, so long as they’re all linked to the same Microsoft account.

That’s the theory, at least — but new features rarely survive first contact with their users. Does Timeline really revolutionize how you use Windows, or does it solve a problem no one needed to solve?

Task View, move over for Timeline

Timeline is not just a new feature, but a replacement for Task View, which is summoned by hitting the icon to the right of Cortana or mashing Windows+Tab on your keyboard. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you lose any features. Timeline, like Task View, shows a summary of all open Windows, and also your active desktops into the top.

The look and feel of Timeline is hard to fault.

The transition to Timeline has led to slight tweaks in the interface. For example, you’ll now find the New Desktop icon at the top instead of the bottom, and window previews seem a bit larger than they used to be. A new scroll bar on the right side lets you move down the list of previously opened apps and documents, if you for some reason would rather not use the touchpad or scroll wheel. We noticed a bit of lag in the animations even on the powerful new Surface Book 2, which wasn’t visible in Task View, but that may be do to Timeline’s early state.

Lag aside, the look and feel of Timeline is hard to fault. Task View was extremely handy for serious multi-taskers, and Timeline is the same, so we’re glad to see Microsoft hasn’t ruined a feature that worked. If we have to nitpick — and of course, we must — we’d like to see Timeline allow smaller window previews on large monitors. Right now, having more than nine or 10 windows open results in too many previews to fit on the screen all at once, and that’s not something that happened with Task View.

What, where, and why?

The behind Timeline seems simple. Your past apps and documents appear chronologically, so you can pick up what you were last doing. It’s like a visual browser history for your entire desktop. Except — it’s not that simple.

As Microsoft’s blog post says, “In Timeline, a user activity is the combination of a specific app and a specific piece of content you were working on at a specific time.” That… sounds a bit confusing, doesn’t it?

Yet, it’s not. Listing every application in precise, reverse chronological order would be a bit of a mess, so Timeline tries to group things by what’s currently open, what was open earlier in the day, and what was open on previous days.

It’s a sensible approach, but (at least for now) it works a lot better for documents than for applications. Perhaps that’s because we’re less likely to leave documents open for long periods than applications. Or it could be because we use OneDrive, which integrates extremely well into Timeline.

Whatever the case, we noticed applications we closed did not immediately appear under “Earlier Today” in Timeline view. In fact, most didn’t appear at all. Microsoft says this is expected, because most applications aren’t built to appear in Timeline. Developers need to create “high-quality activity cards” for inclusion. Note, though, this applies only to the history portion of Timeline. Currently opened apps always appear as a window preview.

Still, relying on developer updates will make Timeline less useful in the short-term. We also didn’t see first party apps like Edge show up, which Microsoft says should be supported — a likely bug.

The privacy menu, which will let users exert some control over how past tasks appear, was also bugged. It crashed whenever we tried to open it. Insider builds, folks — they’re not without their risks! If it did work, the menu would let us control activity tracking on a per device-basis, manage linked accounts, and wipe the history clean.

OneDrive for the win

While application support is sketchy for now, documents stored in OneDrive worked, and they showed how useful Timeline can be.

Every document we opened in Word and Excel was instantly visible in Timeline even moments after we closed it. Better still, Timeline pulled in documents from before the feature was implemented. Our document history went all the way back to November 19th, one month prior to the date we installed it.

Files opened on one device were perfectly mirrored on the other.

That spanned our devices. We saw documents that we opened on a Microsoft Surface Pro over a work trip two weeks prior, and that device hasn’t received the Insiders update. It hasn’t been turned on since the new build went live. We also updated two devices to Windows 10 Build 17063, and saw files opened on one perfectly mirrored on the other. It was seamless, and required no additional setup.

There’s no doubt this will change our workflow. In the past, we depended on the “recent” columns of Word and Excel to find recently edited documents. Now, that’s no longer needed. Finding and opening documents directly from Timeline is easy, removing a step from our workflow. It’s not going to change the world, but it’s handy.

Timeline will take time, but looks promising

It’s no surprise that Timeline isn’t perfect. This is the very first public release, available only to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring. For most, it doesn’t include Sets — another upcoming feature.

Still, I can see the point and, as an avid user of Office 365 and OneDrive, I can’t wait for it to simplify my work. Having instant access to past documents from a single, central control panel is awesome. Sure, we kinda enjoyed the same benefit from the Quick Access feature of File Explorer — but Timeline is grander, bolder, more attractive, and just a tad easier to access.

This is what we want to see from Windows 10. Features like better smartphone integrated and Xbox support are nice, but for us, Windows is about the desktop, and making the desktop as useful as possible. Timeline is a promising, innovative step in that direction.

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The latest Windows Insider update lets you travel through time — sort of

Okay, it may not be the most exciting form of time travel, but it’s definitely the most useful. Microsoft rolled out a new Windows Insider Update today, December 19, and its headline feature is something called “Timeline,” which allows you to resume past activities with just a couple of clicks.

“Timeline is here!” the Windows blog post reads. “We know that it can be difficult to get back to stuff you were working on in the past. If you’re like us, you might sometimes forget which site or app you were using or where you saved a file. Now you can finally close apps without worrying — with Timeline, you can get right back to where you left off.”

The whole thing works by storing a snapshot of your past activity, which you can view in the Timeline. Just scroll back through your last few apps till you find the one you want, and click on it to step right back in where you left off.

Naturally, the new Timeline feature has a few implications for privacy, but you can control which apps show up in the Timeline and which ones don’t. You can also disable it entirely by turning off “activity collection” under your Settings menu and the new Activity History panel.

Windows will also integrate Cortana into your Activity History, which means she’ll bark at you to keep you productive, or just gently suggest activities you might want to step back into. Plus, she’ll suggest activities from other Cortana-enabled devices for you to continue right at home on Windows 10.

To access your Timeline, all you’ll have to do is click the new Task View button, that will bring up your activities and recent Timeline.

That’s not all! What’s a Windows Insider Update without a few incremental Microsoft Edge improvements?

First among the changes coming to Edge is a bit of a new look. The Dark Mode is getting a slight update with darker blacks, and better contrast for colors, text, and icons.

Alongside the visual change to Edge, Microsoft is also rolling out a couple behind-the-scenes changes, first among them being improved support for touchpad gestures.

“You can now use gestures like pinch and zoom, or two-finger panning, to achieve the same interactions on web sites that you can do with a touch screen today,” the Windows blog reports.

There are a number of other, smaller changes coming to Edge which you can read all about here at the Windows Blog.

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