TECHNOLOGY

Virtual cash helps cyber-thieves launder money, research suggests

Crypto-currencies and digital cash systems have become a key way for cyber-thieves to launder stolen funds, suggests research. Alongside its use in ransomware, virtual cash was also helping clean up other sources of stolen cash, said criminologist Dr Mike Maguire. Bitcoin’s anonymity made it attractive to tech-savvy thieves, he said. Dr McGuire drew on interviews with cyber-thieves, police reports and ...

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Tech Tent: Facebook and Google police their platforms

How far should the two mightiest web giants go to police the content they enable? This week Google acted to ban crypto-currency advertising, while Facebook banned a far-right group. Stream or download the latest Tech Tent podcast Listen live every Friday at 15:00 GMT on the BBC World Service Tech Tent looks at growing evidence that the social media firms are now actively editing what ...

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Hacker who gave up Wikileaks source dies

Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker best known for passing on information that led to the arrest of Chelsea Manning, has died aged 37. In online messaging conversations, Manning confided in him, describing confidential military material Manning had sent to Wikileaks. Wikileaks published the video of a US helicopter strike that killed seven people, including a journalist working for the Reuters ...

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Rihanna’s criticism sinks Snapchat value by $800 million

Shares of Snap are down for a second straight day after the social media giant received pointed criticism from Rihanna over a third-party ad that appeared to make light of domestic violence. On Thursday, Snap shares plunged nearly 4 percent, wiping out roughly $800 million from its market value, according to The Wall Street Journal and CNN, and during Friday ...

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UN: Facebook has turned into a beast

UN investigators have accused Facebook of playing a “determining role” in stirring up hatred against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. One of the team probing possible acts of genocide said Facebook had “turned into a beast.” About 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar’s military launched an operation in August against “insurgents” in Rakhine state. Facebook has said there is ...

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Africa make-over phone

or decades, technology has been mainly driven by Westerners and that’s why most applications and features until in recent times have had western themes. But a group of African content creators are determined to change this trend in a big way. Primarily, they are hoping African users can identify and relate to these themes ,thereby owning their personal devices. Afrocomix ...

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Youtuber criticised for putting pet fox on vegan diet

Spanish Youtuber Sonia Sae, who uses her channel to share advice on how to live on a plant-based diet, has come under fire for putting her pet fennec fox on a vegan diet after photos of the shockingly thin animal were shared online. Animal activists and some of Sonia Sae’s own followers have accused her of animal cruelty after the ...

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Rubik’s robot solves puzzle in 0.38 seconds

A robot that can solve a Rubik’s cube puzzle in 0.38 seconds has been developed by two researchers in the US. The current world record is 0.637 seconds, which was set by German engineer Albert Beer and his robot Sub1 Reloaded. The researchers realised they could solve the cube more quickly by using a different type of motor in their ...

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Trump to hold games violence meeting

US President Donald Trump is to meet video games company representatives on Thursday to discuss violent content. The meeting comes in the wake of last month’s shooting at a school in Florida in which 17 people died. The president has in the past expressed the view that violent games were “shaping young people’s thoughts”. But the games industry has defended ...

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