Associated Press

News Agency

SolarWinds hacking campaign puts Microsoft in the hot seat

SolarWinds hacking campaign puts Microsoft in the hot seat

The sprawling hacking campaign deemed a grave threat to U.S. national security came to be known as SolarWinds, for the company whose software update was seeded by Russian intelligence agents with malware to penetrate sensitive government and private networks. Yet it was Microsoft whose code the cyber spies persistently abused in the campaign’s second stage, […]

Founder of Adobe and developer of PDFs dies at age 81

Obit Adobe Co-Founder

Charles “Chuck” Geschke — the co-founder of the major software company Adobe Inc. who helped develop Portable Document Format technology, or PDFs — died at age 81. Geschke, who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Los Altos, died Friday, the company said. “This is a huge loss for the entire Adobe community […]

Australian judge rules Google misled Android users on data

Google misled Android users on data

Google broke Australian law by misleading users about personal location data collected through Android mobile devices, a judge found Friday. The Federal Court decision was a partial win for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the nation’s fair trade watchdog, which has been prosecuting Google for broader alleged breaches of consumer law since October 2019. […]

India's electric vehicles face practical, technical hurdles

electric vehicles

H.S. Panno, an independent contractor living in a spacious two-story penthouse in New Delhi, had his doubts when he bought his first electric car in September. So far, he’s pleased with his savings on gas and maintenance, which are down by more than half, but disappointed with the practical limitations of driving his Nexon XZ+. […]

How the Kremlin provides a safe harbor for ransomware

How the Kremlin provides a safe harbor for ransomware

A global epidemic of digital extortion known as ransomware is crippling local governments, hospitals, school districts and businesses by scrambling their data files until they pay up. Law enforcement has been largely powerless to stop it. One big reason: Ransomware rackets are dominated by Russian-speaking cybercriminals who are shielded — and sometimes employed — by […]

The latest: vaccines to be made available at Alaska airports

Alaska airports

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says COVID-19 vaccines would be made available at key airports in the state starting June 1. He made the announcement Friday, as he unveiled plans aimed at bolstering Alaska’s pandemic-battered tourist industry. Dunleavy, a Republican, outlined plans for a national marketing campaign aimed at luring tourists and said […]

Google Earth adds time lapse video to depict climate change

Google Earth adds time lapse video to depict climate change

The Google Earth app is adding a new video feature that draws upon nearly four decades of satellite imagery to vividly illustrate how climate change has affected glaciers, beaches, forests and other places around the world. The tool unveiled Thursday is rolling out in what is being billed as the biggest update to Google Earth […]

Sanctioned Russian IT firm was partner with Microsoft, IBM

Sanctioned Russian IT firm

The Treasury Department on Thursday slapped six Russian technology companies with sanctions for supporting Kremlin intelligence agencies engaged in “dangerous and disruptive cyber attacks.” But only one of them stands out for its international footprint and partnerships with such IT heavyweights as Microsoft and IBM. That company, Positive Technologies, claims more than 2,000 customers in […]

EU throws weight behind Pfizer-BioNTech and new technology

EU throws weight behind Pfizer-BioNTech and new technology

In a stinging rebuke to pharma giant AstraZeneca Wednesday, the European Union announced plans to negotiate a massive contract extension for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine insisting the 27-nation bloc had to go with companies that had shown their value in the pandemic. “We need to focus on technologies that have proven their worth,” said EU Commission […]

Coinbase soars in market debut, valued near $86 billion

Coinbase soars in market debut

Coinbase made a rousing debut on Wall Street, with shares of the digital currency exchange rising as high as $429, briefly giving it a market value over $100 billion. Coinbase Global Inc.‘s initial public offering happened with cryptocurrency chatter seemingly everywhere, even at the U.S. Federal Reserve. Digital currencies are being incorporated into business plans […]