Techstrong News Recap – June 13, 2023
On June 13, William Willis covered the details of a global supply chain hack that has already impacted the BBC, British Airways and Nova Scotia, an ex-Samsung exec charged with stealing company secrets to create a chip factory in China and GM’s plans to give its EVs access to the Tesla charging network. He also talked about the more than 3,000 subreddits that went dark to protest new API charges. Finally, he previewed articles from Techstrong.ai, Devops.com and Security Boulevard, which covered a survey showing workers perception on AI/automation and job fulfillment, Cycode using eBPF to secure CI/CD pipelines and Cyera integrating Microsoft OpenAI to improve data security.
Transcript
Hi again, everyone. Here are the headlines for June 13th. First up, US and British Cybersecurity officials issued warnings about a Russian cyber extortion group that hacked into a widely used file transfer program called MoveIt, potentially impacting numerous global organizations.
The compromised program is a popular among businesses for secure file sharing, and the initial victims include the bbc, British Airways, and Nova Scotia's government. The C O P ransomware syndicate has threatened to release the stolen data if victims don't negotiate a ransom By June 14th, although the parent company issued a patch service, security experts believe sensitive data may have already been exfiltrated from numerous companies. Officials have stated that the breach is considered significant and is expected to affect organizations across various sectors.
Next, a former executive of Samsung Electronics has been arrested and indicted in South Korea for allegedly stealing trade secrets while trying to establish a rival chip plant in China. The individual unlawfully obtained Samsung's factory blueprints and clean room designs with the intention of replicating a chip factory in China, the stolen technology is estimated to be worth at least 233 million for Samsung. Additionally, six other individuals were connected to the case and were charged with active participation in the theft.
South Korea, a major player in the semiconductor industry, takes such breaches seriously as semiconductors makes up a significant portion of its exports. Prosecutors believe that if the stolen technology had successfully been replicated in China, it would've caused irreversible damage to South Korea's semiconductor industry in compromised national security interests. In other news, general Motorists has announced that its electric vehicles will be able to use Tesla's charging network, and GM will adopt Tesla's connector as the plug to link its EVs to charging stations.
This move follows Ford's decision to make its EVs compatible with Tesla's charging network and connectors. Initially, GM and Ford EV owners will require an adapter to connect the Tesla stations, but starting with New EVs produced in 2025, both automakers will switch to Tesla's North American charging standard connector. Tesla's supercharger network, which consists about 17,000 stations in the US, provides an advantage in terms of fast charging capabilities and reliability.
Opening access to GM and Ford EVs will make it easier for their owners to charge while traveling and expand their charging options for GE M EV owners. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed and the exact terms of customer access are still being worked out. With all this being said, though, this move is seen as a step forward towards making Teslas connector the industry standard.
If other major EV manufacturers also adopt it. Next up, thousands of Reddit communities have gone private in protest against the introduction of controversial charges for developers of third party apps, the charges that Reddit wants to implement are aimed at developers who use Reddit's API to create apps for browsing the platform. Moderators of major subreddits have made their communities private for 48 hours to express their discontent.
The blackout includes 3,489 subreddits, including some of the most popular ones with Memberships exceeding 30 million. The produce aims to demonstrate the reliance on moderators and the potential impact on Reddit's traffic. Reddit justifies these charges by stating the need for a self-sustaining business model and ensuring an open and accessible platform.
The charges have led to the shutdown of popular third party apps like a Polo. Reddit is fun and sync. The new APA pricing has been criticized as exorbitant with developers claiming that it would cost millions of dollars to continue operating their apps.
The blackout may continue beyond its initial 48 hours. If Reddit doesn't reverse, its changes as some communities intend to restrict posting or keep their subreddits inaccessible indefinitely. ai, we have an article on a survey showing how workers believe AI automation will improve job fulfillment.
According to the survey, 56% of workers believe that AI automation will streamline work responsibilities, and with 28% saying that they've had to take on more work with layoffs, 83% believed AI can reduce overall burnout. com. We have an article looking at how C code is using E B P F to secure ci cd pipelines.
C code has stated that EPF F will be used to inspect network connections, run processes, and file modifications within a pipeline to uncover and anonymously in real time. com. Finally, on Security Boulevard, we have an article examining How Cera integrates its data security platform with Microsoft Azure.
OpenAI Cera has stated that this integration will allow cybersecurity teams to employ natural language interfaces to use Microsoft AI to match data stores and identify best practices. com, and that's today's text. Strong news recap.
