Microsoft said it has disrupted cyberattacks from a Russia-linked group called Strontium (aka APT28 and Fancy Bear) targeting Ukraine and the West. The software giant obtained a court order allowing it to take control of seven internet domains being used by Strontium to coordinate attacks. It announces the news shortly after the FBI said it disrupted botnets also run by the GRU. 

"On Wednesday, April 6th, we obtained a court order authorizing us to take control of seven internet domains Strontium was using to conduct these attacks," said Microsoft security VP Tom Burt. "We have since re-directed these domains to a sinkhole controlled by Microsoft, enabling us to mitigate Strontium's current use of these domains and enable victim notifications."

Organizations targeted included Ukrainian institutions and media organizations, along with foreign policy government bodies in the US and EU. "We believe Strontium was attempting to establish long-term access to the systems of its targets, provide tactical support for the physical invasion and exfiltrate sensitive information," Microsoft said. 

Its actions are part of a larger effort by businesses and government to thwart a wave of attacks directed at Ukraine. Microsoft has been taking legal and technical action to seize infrastructure used by APT28 as part of an "ongoing long-term investment started in 2016," said Burt. "We have established a legal process that enables us to obtain rapid court decisions for this work."

The FBI announced yesterday that it had silently removed Russian malware that allowed the country's GRU military intelligence arm to create botnets using infected computer networks. Strontium has reportedly operated since the mid-2000s and has been linked to attacks against US government agencies, EU elections, NGOs, non-profits and other agencies. 

As the interest in Wordle ebbs and flows, The New York Times is trying to keep you hooked on its recent acquisition. So how about some post-match analysis? WordleBot is an optional feature that breaks down a completed game and reveals what players could have done to play more efficiently — perfect for those of us who struggle to grab the winning word on the fifth try, take hours to finish playing or are just stumped completely. Or cheat. Not namingnames.

The bot will offer up an efficiency score, making the word game suddenly feel like something closer to a chore or work. But for those addicted to sports stats and figures, it might add a compelling twist to Wordle. Me? I’ve moved on to Heardle.

— Mat Smith

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ASUS ROG Flow Z13 review

Practicality can be overrated.

Engadget

If you’re looking for a unique portable gaming PC, ASUS ROG obliges, yet again. Putting gaming PC components in a detachable 2-in-1 design makes for an innovative system that’s both adaptable and rather travel-friendly. According to Sam Rutherford, when paired with ASUS’ optional XG Mobile Dock, it can give you desktop-level performance with way less bulk. However, the Z13’s short battery life and high price make it hard to love. Yes, that high price makes the Z13 an incredibly hard sell for most. It’s all very intriguing.

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Google pulls apps that may have harvested data from millions of Android devices

The apps may have taken users' precise location, email, phone numbers and more.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Google has pulled dozens of apps used by millions after finding they covertly gathered data. Researchers found weather apps, highway radar apps, QR scanners, prayer apps and others containing code that could harvest a user's precise location, email, phone numbers and more. They were traced to Measurement Systems, a company reportedly linked to a Virginia defense contractor that does cyber-intelligence and more for US national-security agencies. It denied the allegations.

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The FBI silently removed Russian malware to thwart global cyberattacks

Sometimes even without the network owner's knowledge.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has revealed that the United States secretly removed malware from computer networks around the world over the past few weeks to pre-empt Russian cyberattacks. The White House recently warned companies that Russia could attack critical infrastructure in the country, such as financial institutions and the power grid. Apparently, the malware the US removed would have enabled Russian military intelligence to create botnets out of the infected computer networks, which they could use in DDoS attacks, spamming networks and more.

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Smart reveals the production version of its compact electric SUV

The Smart #1 offers up to 273 miles of range.

Smart

Smart’s compact electric SUV has kept the distinctive design of its concept origins. The Smart #1 will still have frameless windows and a "floating halo" glass roof. Alas, the scissor doors didn’t make the… cut.

While the estimated 273 miles of maximum range isn't all that impressive, it comes from a 66kWh battery that charges quickly, taking it from a 10 percent charge to 80 percent in under 30 minutes with a 150kW DC charger. Even with a more typical 22kW AC supply, it takes less than three hours. For now, pricing and release dates are still TBC.

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If your co-workers or friends don't show up within the first five minutes of your scheduled video call, you'll soon be able to blame Google for why you left early. The tech giant will start rolling out an update for Google Meet so that it will prompt you to exit meetings when you're the only person in it. Say, you log into a team meeting, but nobody shows up within five minutes: A notification will show up asking if you're still there and if you'd like to keep waiting or to leave the call. If you don't respond within two minutes, you'll automatically get kicked out. 

Other services like Discord already implement similar measures to prevent wasting bandwidth. Zoom also has a time limit for idle meetings, but it lasts for up to 40 minutes. Google didn't say whether it introducing the new feature as a way to stop wasting resources, but the company is hoping that it can help prevent you from unintentionally broadcasting your video and audio feed. Regardless, you can easily switch it off if you don't want to be prompted to leave your meetings. The feature will be on by default, but you can go to General under Settings to toggle it off. 

Google will gradually roll out the "leave empty calls" feature starting on April 11th, and it will take 15 days to reach all desktop and iOS users. It will also be available for Android users "soon."

Google

Audio-Technica recently launched a $199 wireless Bluetooth version of its M50x headphones (the M50xBT) and now it's doing the same for a popular budget model. It just released the M20xBT, a wireless version of its top-selling M20x wired headphones, priced at just $79. 

The M20x is a pretty nice-looking set of over-ear cans, though it lacks some design features of the M50xBT like the ability to fold them up. Still, it uses "professional-grade ear pad and headband material," according to Audio-Technica, built for "long-lasting durability and comfort." They come with 40mm drivers for enhanced low frequency performance, and allow for a wired as well as a wireless connection. 

Audio-Technica

The key feature for this model is multipoint Bluetooth pairing that allows you to smoothly connect two devices at once. There's also a low latency mode to ensure audio and video are synced, and to limit audio lag for gaming. 

They offer a 60-hour battery life on a full charge and up to three hours on a 10-minute rapid charge via USB-C. Meanwhile, you can control calls, music playback and volume with the microphone and buttons on the left earcup. While Audio-Technica promises "excellent sound isolation" they don't offer any form of ANC, which is what you'd expect for headphones in this price range. The M20xBT wireless headphones are now available at B&H and Amazon on pre-order for $79. 

If you want the latest Switch games, particularly the most popular AAA titles, usually the only choice is to suck it up and pay full price. There is a way to get a discount, though. Right now, you can purchase a $50 Nintendo eShop Gift Card for $45, for a savings of $5 or 10 percent, which you can then use to purchase any game in the store — including the latest titles like LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. 

You could choose from a number of new blockbuster titles that aren't likely to be discounted anytime soon, including MLB The Show 22 (coming to Switch for the first time), Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Rune Factory 5. All of those titles cost $60, so the purchase of an eShop Gift Card would save you $5 (or $6 if you get two). 

If you're more interested in indie titles, remasters or DLCs, new releases include Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition (remaster, $20), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass (DLC, $25) and OlliOlli World (indie, $30). And for any discounted eShop games, you can make a good deal even better. Finally, you're a regular eShop buyer but not in the market right now, it might be worth getting the card now to get a pre-discount on anything you'll buy in the future.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Tesla will finally start selling the Cybertruck next year, Elon Musk has announced at the opening party for the company's Giga Texas factory. During his presentation on stage, Musk showed off the production Cybertruck vehicle, which still looks like the previous versions, except its doors no longer have handles. The car will be able to tell that you're there and will know that it's supposed to open the doors. He also apologized for the delay on releasing the Cybertruck that was first announced back in 2019. Tesla's original (and highly optimistic) target release date was 2021, but it delayed the vehicle's launch to 2022, and now to 2023.

The automaker will manufacture the Cybertruck at its Texas Gigafactory, which it expects to become the "highest volume" car factory in America. Musk touched upon its other planned Gigactories around the world, as well, and how manufacturing vehicles near where they're going to be shipped is much more environmentally friendly. This year is all about scaling up production — a scale that "no company has ever achieved in the history of humanity," Musk said during the presentation — while next year is all about releasing a "massive wave of new products." 

In addition to the Cybertruck, the company also plans to release the Tesla Semi EV next year, as well as other products it hasn't revealed yet. The electric big rig that's designed to haul cargo across long distances was supposed to be released in 2019, but its launch also got pushed back a few times. Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot will also start production in 2023, Musk said, and will be designed to accomplish any task humans don't want to do. Another future product we can apparently look forward is a dedicated robotaxi that will be designed to look quite futuristic. Before all those, however, Tesla will be launching a wide beta of its Full Self-driving Technology in North America this year.

You can watch Musk announce Cybertruck's new launch date below:

Ford and Lincoln owners whose vehicles have hands-free access to Alexa don't have to stick to using standard voice commands if they don't want to. The automaker has rolled out enhanced Car Control capabilities, and with it comes the option to teach Alexa commands that reflect their natural way of speaking. For example, they can program in "Alexa, I'm cold," and then teach the voice assistant to respond by asking what course of action it should take, such as "I can increase the temperature by 5 degrees or turn off the AC. What should I do?"

Another example of a personalized phrase would be: "Alexa, set the AC to full blast." The assistant can then ask the owner what they mean by "full blast." Training Alexa to respond to personalized phrases is made possible by the assistant's teachable AI technology. All vehicles with Alexa Built-in will get access to enhanced Car Control when it becomes available to them.

At the moment, the models with access to the hands-free experience are the 2022 F-150, Bronco, Mustang Mach-E, Edge, the new Expedition, Nautilus and newly launched Navigator. The long-awaited 2022 F-150 Lightning will also come with the capability when it launches. Ford debuted the hands-free Alexa capability for its vehicles last year, marking the beginning of its six-year partnership with Amazon. As part of that partnership, it's giving its customers complimentary access to Alexa for up to three years that begin on the new vehicle's warranty start date.

Ford will demonstrate its enhanced Car Control and Alexa capabilities at the New York International Auto Show from April 15th through the 24th.

Amazon will reportedly object to a recent union election victory at its warehouse in Staten Island, alleging that organizers pressured workers into voting to organize. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company revealed its intention to appeal JFK8’s election in a legal filing released to the public on Thursday. Roughly 55 percent of workers at the JFK8 warehouse voted to join the Amazon Labor Union, the first victory of its kind for Amazon workers in the US. The company has until April 22nd to gather evidence and formally file its objections to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

In the document, Amazon gave a preview of what objections it plans on raising. The company wrote that it believes that the union threatened employees unless they voted to unionize. Some may think this is a fairly ironic move on Amazon’s part, considering NLRB accused the company of threatening employees unless they did the opposite. Amazon also accused the union of “electioneering” or interfering while employees waited in line to vote. It argued that unusually long waits at polling booths led to insufficient voter turnout. The company also believes organizers loitered by the polling area and intimidated voters, even going as far as to threaten immigrant employees with the loss of their rights if they didn’t vote to unionize.

Eric Milner, an attorney who represents the ALU, believes that Amazon’s objections will be dismissed. "To say that the Amazon Labor Union was threatening employees is really absurd," Milner said to Reuters. "The Amazon Labor Union is Amazon employees."

Meanwhile, a separate labor union attempting to organize an Amazon facility in Alabama filed its own objections on Thursday regarding the pending results of its recent rerun election. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is accusing Amazon of “countless attempts to intimidate workers” in the Bessemer plant, including firing or suspending workers who supported the union. The results of that election are currently too close to call and will be determined in the coming weeks by an NLRB hearing over several hundred challenged ballots.

“Amazon’s behavior must not go unchallenged, and workers in Bessemer, Alabama must have their rights protected under the law. We urge the NLRB to carefully review our objections and ensure no company, not even with the bottomless pockets of Amazon, is allowed to act above the law,” said RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum in a statement.

Engadget has reached out to Amazon for comment on both matters, and will update if we hear back. 

Everyone has their own approach to playing Wordle. Some methods are arguably better than others. But what if a computer could help players perfect their gameplay? The New York Times just unveiled WordleBot, an optional feature that breaks down a completed game and reveals what players could have done to play more efficiently. We’ve all had rounds of Wordle where we’ve finally landed the winning word on the fifth try or were stumped completely. For those less than stellar attempts, WordleBot is likely to be a useful post-mortem.

Players also receive a score between 0 to 100 on luck and efficiency. This will likely up the ante amongst families or friend groups who compete to solve each game in the fewest tries possible. WordleBot also reveals how each player's score stacks up against others. Given the annoying Twitter craze of players posting Wordle scores in order to see how they measure up against others (or humblebrag), there’s no doubt a need for this. WordleBot's ratings are also a useful measure of whether a game was particularly hard, run-of-the-mill or unusually easy.

In a Q&A, the NYT gave a simple explanation of how WordleBot works: “Every Wordle game starts with one of 2,309 possible solutions as the hidden word. At each turn, WordleBot chooses the word that will allow it to solve the game in as few steps as possible, assuming any of the remaining solutions are equally likely."

For many players, WordleBot may simply be more information than they need. Especially if Wordle is just meant to be a fun distraction. But hardcore Wordle players or those who feel their gameplay has stagnated are likely to welcome the new feature. WordleBot could also bring back former players who want to know how much of their success was due to good gameplay — or just a lot of luck.

Amazon’s Prime Video will stream New York Yankees games for in-market customers during the 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. The first game, scheduled on April 22nd, is between the Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians. The streaming platform will air a total of 21 games in total, with 19 of them scheduled on Friday nights. The games will only be available to Prime members in New York state, Connecticut, north and central New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania.

Amazon began simulcasting Yankees games on Prime Video shortly after it bought the Yankees Entertainment Sports Network (YES). While this is the third consecutive year Amazon has done this, it’s the first year that this selection of Yankees games will only air on Prime Video. Meaning that fans won’t be able to find the game on a broadcast station, the YES network or any other service.

MLB has gotten pretty cozy with streaming platforms as of late. Peacock will air a total of 18 exclusive Sunday morning baseball games in May, beginning with a matchup between the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox on May 8th. Apple TV+ will also begin streaming live Friday night MLB games this year, beginning with a contest between the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals on April 8th. The game will be exclusive to Apple TV+, but will also be available to non-subscribers for free (they’ll just need to download the Apple TV+ app).

Not everyone is a fan of the new union between streaming platforms and baseball. Baseball fans who have already paid for MLB TV or satellite TV likely won’t be happy about paying for a new streaming service just so they won't miss a game. While games on Apple TV+ will have no geographic restrictions and be free to anyone with internet access, it’s obviously a ploy on Apple’s part to expand its subscriber base. And with games scattered across a number of different services — baseball season this year is likely to get confusing.