Associated Press

News Agency

Japan spends billions on technology for absent Olympic fans

Japan’s top telecommunications company is getting 7.3 billion yen — about $67 million — in taxpayer money to design mobile tracking software to curb the spread of coronavirus infections during the Tokyo Olympics. There’s one catch: Few Olympic fans from abroad will be around to use it. Tokyo Olympic organizers and the IOC on Saturday […]

Tool created to aid cleanup from Microsoft hack in broad use

A tool designed to help businesses protect themselves from further compromises after a global hack of Microsoft email server software has been downloaded more than 25,000 times since it was released last week, the White House’s National Security Council said Monday. As a result, the number of vulnerable systems has fallen by 45%, according to […]

Facebook working on Instagram for kids under 13

Facebook says it is working on a version of its Instagram app for kids under 13, who are technically not allowed to use the app in its current form due to federal privacy regulations. The company confirmed an earlier report by Buzzfeed News on Friday, saying it is “exploring a parent-controlled experience” on Instagram. The […]

AstraZeneca: US data shows vaccine effective for all ages

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday. AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding no increased risk of rare blood clots […]

Cyber attack tied to China boosts development bank's chief

The cyberattack crested just as finance officials from across Latin America were descending on Washington to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Inter-American Development Bank. On Sept. 24, 2019, requests from more than 15,000 internet addresses throughout China flooded the bank’s website, knocking part of it intermittently offline. To unclog the network, the bank took […]

Report: DOJ investigating Visa over debit card business

Visa is under investigation by the Department of Justice’s antitrust division over whether the company pushes merchants into more expensive forms of debit card payments, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The investigation is focused on how merchants route debit card transactions when a consumer makes an online transaction, according to the Journal, which cited […]

Buttigieg: Biden plan will usher in a new transportation era

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday that an infrastructure plan expected soon from President Joe Biden will offer a “once in a century” opportunity to remake transportation in the United States, where cars and highways are no longer king. Speaking at the Austin, Texas-based South by Southwest conference, which is being held virtually this year, […]

China slams US plan to expel phone carriers in tech clash

China’s government on Thursday called on Washington to drop efforts to expel three state-owned Chinese phone companies from the United States in a new clash over technology and security. The Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to begin revoking the companies’ U.S. licenses. It said they are security risks controlled by the communist Beijing government. The […]

China summons technology firms over voice software security

Chinese authorities summoned 11 companies including Alibaba and Tencent for talks regarding the security of voice software, as Beijing steps up scrutiny over the internet sector. The internet watchdog the Cyberspace Administration of China said Thursday that the talks were about security assessments of technology used in voice-based social media and deepfake technology that can […]

US charges Swiss 'hacktivist' for data theft and leaks

The Justice Department has charged a Swiss hacker with computer intrusion and identity theft, just over a week after the hacker took credit for helping to break into the online systems of a U.S. security-camera startup. An indictment against 21-year-old Till Kottmann was brought Thursday by a grand jury in the Seattle-based Western District of […]