Posts with «australia international news» label

Instagram may soon allow you to respond to Stories with voice messages

Instagram recently introduced private likes as an additional way to interact with Stories. And it looks like the company could add soon add yet another way to respond to ephemeral clips and images from your friends. According to developer Alessandro Paluzzi, who’s known for reverse engineering apps to find evidence of new features, Instagram is working on allowing people to send voice messages in response to Stories. On Saturday, Paluzzi shared a screenshot of the new interface feature.

#Instagram is working on the ability to reply to Stories with voice messages 👀 pic.twitter.com/6fQNSxB04e

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 26, 2022

We’ve reached out to Instagram for comment. We’ll note here not every feature the company works on behind the scenes ends up in a public release. When Instagram introduced private Story likes, it said its motivation was to reduce inbox clutter. Adding the option to send voice messages would run counter to that philosophy, but it would make it easier to do something you can already do within the app.

Crypto.com loses $34 million in hack that affected 483 accounts

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Crypto.com's Chief Executive Kris Marszalek has admitted that 400 customer accounts were compromised by hackers. He said his team detected unauthorized transactions made from the accounts, but that they'd fixed the issue immediately and fully reimbursed the affected users. Now, the company has published a report revealing details from its post mortem. Apparently, 483 accounts were affected and the unauthorized withdrawals totaled 4,836.26 ETH, 443.93 BTC and approximately $66,200 in other currencies. Based on current exchange rates, that's $15.3 million of ETH and $18.7 million of ETC for a total of $34 million in losses. 

JUST IN: CEO @cryptocom’s Kris Marszalek discusses the site's recent hack with @BloombergTV’s @emilychangtv. "Customer funds were never at risk." #TheYearAheadpic.twitter.com/YlCtGO60t5

— Bloomberg Live (@BloombergLive) January 19, 2022

Before the company revealed the scope of the hack in terms of lost funds, blockchain security analytics company PeckShield Inc. said Crypto.com may have lost cryptocurrency worth $15 million. At least 4,600 of the coins lost were Ethereum, and half of them are reportedly being washed — a process that obfuscates a coin's transaction trail. Meanwhile, Bitcoin research firm OXT Research said the company's loss might be worth up to $33 million.

The report explained that the company's risk monitoring systems detected unauthorized activity a few days ago, wherein transactions were being approved without two-factor authentication for a small number of accounts. As a result, the cryptocurrency exchange paused withdrawals on the evening of January 16th. Indeed, people in the comments on its Twitter announcement revealed that they had funds stolen even if they had 2FA enabled. 

In another tweet posted on January 17th, Marszalek said that "no customer funds were lost," the company's infrastructure was down 14 hours and that his team strengthened its security in response to what happened. The report expounded on that last part, revealing that Crypto.com revoked all customer 2FA tokens and implemented additional security measures that required all account users to re-log-in. The company said the move is necessary, because it migrated to a completely new 2FA infrastructure. However, it intends to eventually move away from 2FA and to true Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

Crypto.com has also introduced an additional security measure that requires users to wait 24 hours before they can withdraw to a newly registered whitelisted address. Finally, the company is launching the Worldwide Account Protection Program (WAPP) on February 1st for users who want additional protection for their funds. 

WAPP can restore up to $250,000 of a participating user's money in case a third-party gains access to their account. That said, to qualify for the program, users must enable multi-faction authentication on all transaction types and not be using a jailbroken device. To be able to recoup their funds under the program, they must've set up an anti-phishing code at least 21 days before an unauthorized transaction, file a police report and provide Crypto.com a copy, as well as complete a questionnaire to support forensic investigation. 

Activision Blizzard workers accuse company of violating federal labor law

Activision Blizzard is facing still more legal action over its labor practices. As Game Developerreports, Activision Blizzard workers and the Communication Workers of America have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing the game developer of using coercion (such as threats) and interrogation. While the filing doesn't detail the behavior, the employee group ABetterABK claimed Activision Blizzard tried to intimidate staff talking about forced arbitration for disputes.

Companies sometimes include employment clauses requiring arbitration in place of lawsuits. The approach typically favors businesses as arbitrations are often quicker than lawsuits, deny access to class actions and, most importantly, keep matters private. Work disputes are less likely to reach the public eye and prompt systemic change. Tech firms like Microsoft have ended arbitration for sexual harassment claims precisely to make sure those disputes are transparent and prevent harassers from going unchecked.

It's not clear how Activision Blizzard intends to respond. We've asked the company about the complaint. The NLRB has yet to say if it will take up the case.

The gaming giant has taken some action in response to California's sexual harassment lawsuit, dismissing three senior designers and a Blizzard president after they were referenced in the case. It has so far been reluctant to discuss structural changes, though. The NLRB complaint might intensify the pressure for reform, and certainly won't help Activision Blizzard's image.

If the NLRB rules in our favor, the ruling will be retroactive and we will set a precedent that no worker in the US can be intimidated out of talking about forced arbitration.

— ABetterABK (@ABetterABK) September 14, 2021