Welcome to the EMPIST Tech News Roundup! We’re sharing headlines and recent news stories from around the web to keep you informed on tech news surrounding IT, business, marketing, and everything in between. This week, exposure and data leaks! Timehop and Polar fitness app have made some major slips, affecting millions including secret agents. Get the rest of this week’s tech news scoop!
Timehop Discloses July 4 Data Breach Affecting 21 Million
TechCrunch | Mon July 9, 2018 — Despite some quick action, yet another data breach has affected millions of users. Timehop, a startup that resurfaces old Facebook posts, detected a security attack on July 4th. From the investigation, it appears the attack began in December but was not officially detected until July 4th. Once detected the attack was shut down in less than three hours, but 21 million users were affected during that time. Approximately 4.7 million of those users had a phone number attached to breached accounts. Although social media content, financial info or Timehop data was compromised by the attack, users will need to re-authenticate the app before continued use. Read the full story >>
A Fitness App Exposed Sensitive Location Details for Thousands of Users, Including Soldiers and Secret Agents
Business Insider | Mon July 9, 2018 — A Finnish-based company, Polar, has a fitness app that has recently been compromised. The compromise exposed the geolocation of thousands of users through the ‘Explore’ tracking map feature in the app. Some of the affected users were military members and secret agents, whose home addresses and names were easily identified in the breach. 6,460 individuals across 69 nationalities were affected. The security flaw occurred through watches and tech hardware connected to the Polar Flow app and is being investigated. Read the full story >>
YouTube Will Use Six Popular YouTube Stars to Educate Kids About Fake News
CNBC | Mon July 9, 2018 — YouTube is taking steps against fake news with a hefty investment. The video-sharing site is taking $25 million to support global news organizations’ video efforts against fake news. They will also be working with groups to improve the news experience on its own platform. These efforts are part of a $300 million movement called the Google News Initiative which is also fighting fake news. YouTube will also be recruiting Youtube celebs such as John Green, Ingrid Nilsen, Mark Watson and others to teach teens about fake news. Read the full story >>
Uber Teams Up with Lime Scooters For Latest Non-Car Offering
CNN | Mon July 9, 2018 — Cars, buses, and trains are not the only methods of public transport these days. Now, scooters are an option. Uber has now teamed up with Lime, an electric scooter company available in 70 cities, to offer more transport options. As part of a $335 million in funding for Lime, Uber will now offer scooters as an option within their app. Lime is valued at $1.1 billion. Read the full story >>
Macy’s Warns Customers of Online Data Breach
USA Today | Wed July 11, 2018 — A letter mailed this week to users of macys.com and bloomingdales.com may be the source of a data breach at Macy’s. The retailer discovered a cyber threat targeting a small group of customer profiles on June 11. On June 12, those profiles were blocked to avoid further damage. The profiles in question should have received an email notifying them of the suspicious activity and subsequent account blocking. Password changes for the affected accounts are mandatory before resuming use, and Macy’s is encouraging all users to revisit their passwords. Read the full story >>
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