Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, Twitter's former head of security, says the company has misled regulators about its security measures in his whistleblower complaint that was obtained by The Washington Post. In his complaint filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, he accuses the company of violating the terms it had agreed to when it settled a privacy dispute with the FTC back in 2011. Twitter, he says, has "extreme, egregious deficiencies" when it comes to defending the website against attackers.

As part of that FTC settlement, Twitter had agreed to implement and monitor security safeguards to protect its users. However, Zatko says half of Twitter's servers are running out-of-date and vulnerable software and that thousands of employees still have wide-ranging internal access to core company software, which had previously led to huge breaches. If you'll recall, bad actors were able to commandeer the accounts of some of the most high-profile users on the website in 2020, including Barack Obama's and Elon Musk's, by targeting employees for their internal systems and tools using a social engineering attack. 

It was after that incident that the company hired Zatko, who used to lead a program on detecting cyber espionage for DARPA, as head of security. He argues that security should be a bigger concern for the company, seeing as it has access to the email addresses and phone numbers of numerous public figures, including dissidents and activists whose lives may be in danger if they are doxxed.

The former security head wrote:

"Twitter is grossly negligent in several areas of information security. If these problems are not corrected, regulators, media and users of the platform will be shocked when they inevitably learn about Twitter’s severe lack of security basics.

In addition, Zatko has accused Twitter of prioritizing user growth over reducing spam by distributing bonuses tied to increasing the number of daily users. The company isn't giving out any bonuses directly tied to reducing spam on the website, the complaint said. Zatko also claims that he could not get a direct answer from Twitter regarding the true number of bots on the platform. Twitter has only been counting the bots that can view and click on ads since 2019, and in its SEC reports since then, its bot estimates has always been less than 5 percent. 

Zatko wanted to know the actual number of bots across the platform, not just the monetizable ones. He cites a source who allegedly said that Twitter was wary of determining the real number of bots on the website, because it "would harm the image and valuation of the company." Indeed his revelation could factor into Twitter's legal battle against Elon Musk after the executive started taking steps to back out of his $44 billion takeover. Musk accused Twitter of fraud for hiding the real number of fake accounts on the website and revealed that his analysts found a much higher bot count than Twitter claimed. As The Post notes, though, Zatko provided limited hard documentary evidence regarding spam and bots, so it remains unclear if it would help Musk's case.

When asked why he filed a whistleblower complaint — he's being represented by the nonprofit law firm Whistleblower Aid — Zatko replied that he "felt ethically bound" to do so as someone who works in cybersecurity. Twitter spokesperson Rebecca Hahn, however, denied that the company doesn't make security a priority. "Security and privacy have long been top companywide priorities at Twitter," she said, adding that Zatko's allegations are "riddled with inaccuracies." She also said that Twitter fired Zatko after 15 months "for poor performance and leadership" and that he now "appears to be opportunistically seeking to inflict harm on Twitter, its customers, and its shareholders."

The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is reportedly back in development... at a different studio. According to Bloomberg, one of Saber Interactive's studios in Eastern Europe has taken over the project after it was put on indefinite hold by Aspyr Media in July. Aspyr had been working on the project for years and had industry veterans, as well as people who worked on the original game released back in 2003, on board. It even finished a demo of the game to show Lucasfilm and Sony on June 30th. But a week later, the company reportedly fired design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor.

The situation surrounding Prince and Minor wasn't quite clear, but a source that talked to Bloomberg at the time suggested that the demo cost a disproportionate amount of time and money. Rumors reportedly circulated among Aspyr personnel that Saber Interactive, which has been doing outsourced work for the project, would take the helm. Those speculations may turn out to be true.

While neither developer has issued an official statement yet, mega game publisher Embracer may have alluded to the studio switch in its most recent financial report. Embracer, which owns both Aspyr and Saber Interactive, said one of its "AAA projects has transitioned to another studio" within the company. "This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title," it added.

Embracer also said that it's not expecting any major delays as a result of the transition, but it's not like the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake was scheduled for release in the near future anyway. It doesn't have a launch date yet, and it will reportedly take at least two more years before it's ready.

Back in 2018, former Apple employee Xiaolang Zhang was arrested at San Jose International Airport where he was going to board a last-minute flight to China. Zhang was accused of transferring a 25-page document that includes the engineering schematics of a circuit board for the company's self-driving vehicle, along with technical manuals describing Apple's prototype, to his wife's laptop. He was also accused of stealing circuit boards and a Linux server from the company's development labs. Now, Zhang has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft of trade secrets in San Jose federal court, according to CNBC.

The news organization has obtained a court document (PDF) summarizing the proceedings in which Zhang changed his plea — he originally pleaded not guilty when he was indicted in 2018. In it, the court has noted that his plea agreement is under seal and that his sentencing is scheduled on November 14th. Zhang faces up to ten years in prison and could pay up to $250,000 in fine.

Before his arrest, Zhang worked as a hardware engineer in Apple's autonomous vehicle division and was part of the team that designs and tests circuit boards for sensors. As CNBC notes, circuit designs are typically considered some of the most valuable trade secrets in electronics. Apple reportedly first suspected Zhang of stealing from the company when he turned in his resignation following a paternity leave and a trip to China. He told the company that he was resigning so he could move back to China and take care of his mother. 

Zhang also told Apple that he was planning to work with XPeng Motors, an electric vehicle manufacturer that's also developing its own autonomous driving technology. His access to Apple's resources was cut off after he resigned, and an investigation followed soon after. It was through that investigation that Apple discovered that he transferred gigabytes' worth of top secret files via AirDrop and saw him physically taking hardware from the company's labs via CCTV footage.

Meanwhile, the tech giant remains as secretive about its autonomous vehicle development progress as ever. Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple decided to focus on developing full self-driving capabilities and that the company is aiming to launch its autonomous electric vehicle in 2025. 

Neuralink, a company co-founded by Elon Musk, has been working on an implantable brain–machine interface since 2016. While it previously demonstrated its progress by showing a Macaque monkey controlling the cursor in a game of Pong, it has yet to start human trials. Now, according to Reuters, Musk has reached out to rival company Synchron in recent weeks to discuss a potential investment. 

It's unclear what kind of deal Musk has offered — whether it's a collaboration or a financial investment —since none of the players responded or confirmed the report with the news organization. Reuters' sources also said that a deal isn't certain and that Synchron has yet to decide whether to accept Musk's offer. Apparently, the executive approached Synchron CEO after expressing his frustration to Neuralink staff over the company's slow progress. 

Neuralink announced way back in 2019 that it would seek approval for human trials in 2020. In January of this year, the company started looking for a clinical trial director who would oversee the testing of its medical device on human subjects. However, that has yet to happen, and the FDA has yet to reveal how far along Neuralink is in the process of securing its approval. 

Meanwhile, Synchron announced in July that it had implanted its brain-computer interface into the motor cortex of a human patient in the US for the first time. Doctors in New York's Mount Sinai West did so as part of the company's COMMAND trial, which is aiming to examine the safety of Synchron's implant in patients with severe paralysis. The company also completed a study in Australia, wherein four people were determined to still be safe even after a year with its implant.

Like Neuralink, Synchron is also hoping to provide people with limited mobility the ability to control devices like smartphones and computers with their minds. That will give them the independence to email, text and do various digital tasks. Earlier this year, Max Hodak, the Neuralink co-founder who left the company in 2021, revealed that he took on an advisory role with Synchron. He also financially invested in the company "given [his] excitement for what they're doing."

It's worth noting, though, that Musk reportedly held discussions with other Neuralink rivals in the past. Reuters says he also approached brain-machine interface developer Paradromics in 2020, but those talks were ultimately abandoned. 

You can play Hideo Kojima's post-apocalyptic delivery simulator/action game Death Stranding with a PC Game Pass membership in a few days' time. 505 Games first released the game for Windows in 2020, but soon you'll also be able access it through the Microsoft subscription service at no additional cost. The developer says the version heading to the service will include the same features the Steam and Epic Games editions have. Those features include a high frame rate, ultrawide mode, photo mode, hard mode and cross over content from popular franchises like Half-Life and Cyberpunk 2077.

The game will also have unlockable content you can get as you progress and complete more of the story. That said, the version coming to PC Game Pass is not the director's cut that was released more recently, but the original one. Death Stranding was published by Sony Interactive for the PS4 back in 2019 and got the director's cut treatment for the PS5 in 2021. When it comes to consoles, it's still a PlayStation exclusive — you can't play it on the Xbox with a Game Pass. But at least you can test it out for free on PC if you haven't given it a shot yet.

Death Stranding will be available on the PC Game Pass starting on August 23rd. 505 Games also promises to reveal more details in a Community Q&A in the next few days.

YouTube wants everyone to know if you're simply cross-posting your Shorts to TikTok or Instagram Reels. In an update on its community help center, a Team YouTube member has announced that the website has started adding watermarks to Shorts downloaded from its Studio portal for creators. YouTube will start by watermarking Shorts you create on desktop over the coming weeks before expanding to mobile over the next months. 

After TikTok exploded in popularity, other internet companies realized that short-form videos had won over the younger generation and had quickly developed new products to rival the platform. If you spend time consuming videos on several apps and websites, though, you can easily see that creators tend to repost the same videos across multiple services — a lot of Instagram Reels, for instance, are also TikTok videos.

The Google-owned website said that it's watermarking Shorts so "viewers can see that the content [the user is] sharing across platforms can be found on YouTube Shorts." It sounds like it's hoping that the new feature could raise awareness that it hosts short-form videos, as well, and get you to try it and use it over its competitors. 

YouTube first launched its short-form video format in India back in 2020 before releasing it in 100 countries last year. A few months later, it set aside $100 million to start paying Shorts creators. By June this year, YouTube said Shorts already has 1.5 billion active, signed-in monthly users, which is a lot more than the 1 billion monthly active users TikTok said it reached back in September 2021.

Apple has released a fix for a zero-day vulnerability that bad actors could exploit to take full control of an iPhone, an iPad or a computer running macOS Monterey. The tech giant's security advisory is pretty light on details, but it has identified CVE-2022-3289 as a vulnerability discovered by an anonymous researcher. It says the flaw could be exploited "to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges," which means attackers could act as the user and gain admin control of the target device. The company says it's aware that the vulnerability may have already been exploited.

In addition, Apple has also rolled out a fix for a vulnerability affecting WebKit, the engine used by Safari, Mail and many other iOS and macOS apps. According to the company, it allows attackers to arbitrarily execute code and could hence be used to, among other things, download more malware. Like the first vulnerability, Apple credits an anonymous researcher for the discovery of this flaw — it also knows that it may have already been exploited and used to compromise iOS and Mac devices. 

Both flaws are present in macOS Monterey 12.5.1, and Apple has rolled out a patch for the operating system. They both affect the same set of iPhones and iPads, as well, particularly: iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later and iPod touch (7th generation). Since both flaws are likely being actively exploited right now, it's probably wise for owners of all the aforementioned devices to install the patches by downloading the latest software update.

Nexus Mods, a popular mod database, has posted a strongly worded update about the Spider-Man Remastered patch that was created to remove Pride flags in-game. The website's administrator, Dark0ne, has revealed that the mod was uploaded by a sock puppet under the name "Mike Hawk." They said the fact that it was added to the database by a secondary account shows the uploader's intent to troll and demonstrates their understanding that it would not be allowed on the database. As such, the website has decided to remove the patch from its repository and to ban both the user's main account and sock puppet.

Spider-Man Remastered was released for the PC a few days ago. It's a refresh of the original title developed by Insomniac Games, which has since been purchased by Sony Interactive, and was released back in 2019. In the game, you'll see Pride flags around New York as you swing around the city as Spider-Man, and some players were apparently offended by their presence. The mod Mike Hawk released replaces those Pride flags with the flag of the USA.

"We are for inclusivity, we are for diversity," Dark0ne wrote in their post. They vowed to do a better job of moderating their website and ensuring that their policy is followed more closely going forward. The administrator said that the website will take action if someone uploads a file with the intent to be deliberately against inclusivity and/or diversity. Based on how the website addressed this particular issue, it will likely hand out bans in the future if they're warranted. Of course, Dark0ne and their team can only police what's uploaded on Nexus Mods. Seeing as it's one of the largest repositories around, though, its team's stance could make an impact and help slow the spread of certain game modifications.

Embracer, the mega game publisher that's been snapping up new properties left and right, has made a deal to acquire the intellectual property catalogue and worldwide rights to various JRR Tolkien-related media and merch. To be precise, it will own the rights to "motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks and stage productions" based on the The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit if the deal pushes through. It will also own the rights tied to any future literary work related to LOTR and The Hobbit that's authorized by the Tolkien Estate.

This isn't the first Tolkien-related purchase Embracer has made: Back in 2021, it bought the board game publisher Asmodee, which has published over a dozen LOTR board games over the past 20 years. And if the acquisition goes through, Embracer will work with Amazon on The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power series that will start streaming on September 2nd.

In addition to starting the process of acquiring Middle-earth Enterprises — that's the team that currently owns the IP rights to Tolkien-related merch — Embracer has also announced that it's purchasing more game studios. The biggest name in its latest list of acquisitions is Tripwire Interactive, which is known for the co-op survival horror Killing Floor and the third-person shark sim Maneater.

Embracer, founded in 2008 by Swedish entrepreneur Lars Wingefors, has been quietly buying up game studios over the past few years. We called it the "biggest games publisher you've never heard of," though it's recently been gaining recognition as it continues to add more and more developers under its umbrella. Back in May, it entered a deal to acquire several studios with a catalogue of IPs that include "Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and more than 50 back-catalogue games from Square Enix Holdings." That deal will cost Embracer $300 million — the company didn't reveal how much it will pay to acquire the rights to Tolkien-related media.

When Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis first talked about releasing an "American eMuscle" last year, he said the company's vehicle will "tear up the streets, not the planet." Now, the Stellantis brand has revealed what Kuniskis meant by that. It has introduced the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept, which looks like a futuristic take on its gas-powered Challenger and Charger muscle cars. While it's still just a concept at this point and could change tremendously by the time it's released, a spokesperson told TechCrunch that "it is very close to production."

The two-door electric Dodge Charger will be powered by the new 800V Banshee propulsion system. In its announcement, Dodge says the Banshee is more powerful than the engine of a Hellcat, which is already a high performance variant of the Challenger. And unlike other electric vehicles that barely make a sound, the all-electric Charger was designed to be loud, just like its gas-powered counterparts. The company actually put an exhaust on the vehicle, even though it doesn't need one and the only thing it emits is sound. "The Charger Daytona SRT Concept voices a 126 dB roar that equals the SRT Hellcat," Dodge writes in its announcement. That's made possible by pushing the EV's sounds through an amplifier and tuning chamber. You can hear what it sounds like in the video below, starting at the 2:20 mark.

Outside, the vehicle features a familiar design with modern tweaks that make it more aerodynamic. The "R-Wing" at the front end, for instance, has a pass-through form factor that allows air to flow through and enhance downforce. Inside, you'll find modern amenities, including a 12.3-inch center screen, an 8x3-inch Head-up Display that shows additional vehicle information and a PowerShot button on the steering wheel that gives the vehicle a burst of acceleration.

Dodge has yet to announce pricing for the Charger Daytona, but the company previously said that it's targeting a 2024 release date for its first American eMuscle. By the time it arrives, the brand would've already discontinued its gas-powered Challenger and Charger muscle cars. Kuniskis said in a statement:

"Dodge is about muscle, attitude and performance, and the brand carries that chip on its shoulder and into the BEV segment through a concept loaded with patents, innovations, and pertformance features that embody the electrified muscle of tomorrow. The Charger Daytona SRT Concept can do more than run the car show circuit; it can run a blazing quarter-mile. And when it comes to product cycles, it outruns Darwin. Charger Daytona does more than define where Dodge is headed, it will redefine American muscle in the process."