Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 05/30 – Biggest Botnet Ever?

Episode Date: May 30, 2024

Global authorities take down what they say is the biggest botnet of all time. More big AI deals for big media. More on the delicate dance between OpenAI and Microsoft. Why aren’t there more smartwatches for tweens? And the AR laptop that might give the Apple Vision Pro a run for its money. Links: US dismantles 911 S5 botnet used for cyberattacks, arrests admin (BleepingComputer) Exclusive: The Atlantic, Vox Media ink licensing, product deals with OpenAI (Axios) OpenAI CEO Cements Control as He Secures Apple Deal (The Information) Internal divisions linger at OpenAI after November’s attempted coup (Financial Times) Amazon to Expand US Drone Service After Getting Regulator’s Nod (Bloomberg) Apple Signals That It’s Working on TV+ App for Android Phones (Bloomberg) Google announces Fitbit Ace LTE for kids with Wear OS, Pixel Watch 2 specs (9to5Google) The Spacetop G1 Arrives This Fall. We Try the AR Laptop With No Screen (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Thursday, May 30th, 2024. I'm Brian McCullough today. Global authorities take down what they say is the biggest botnet of all time. More big AI deals for big media. More on the delicate dance between OpenAI and Microsoft. Why aren't there more smart watches for teens and the AR laptop that might give the Apple Vision Pro a run for its money? Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. The U.S. and law enforcement agencies around the world have apparently taken down what they believe to be the largest botnet ever, quoting bleeping computer. The U.S. Justice Department and international partners dismantled the 911 S5 proxy botnet and arrested 35-year-old Chinese national Yung He Wang, its administrator, in Singapore.

Working with our international partners, the FBI conducted a joint sequenced cyber operation to dismantle the 9-11 S5 botnet, likely the world's largest botnet ever, said FBI director Christopher Ray. We arrested its administrator, Yunhi Wang, seized infrastructure and assets and levied sanctions against Wang and his co-conspirators, end quote. As of early 2011, Wang and his conspirators pushed malware onto victims' devices using multiple malicious VPN applications, bundling proxy back doors. The VPN apps that added compromised devices to the 9-11 S5 residential proxy service include mask VPN, do VPN, Paladin VPN, ProxieGate, shield VPN and Shine VPN. The FBI provides detailed information on how to determine if you were a

victim of 911S5 malware here. Check the link in the show notes. Between 2014 and July 22, they created a network of millions of residential Windows computers worldwide linked to more than 19 million unique IP addresses, including 613,000 IP addresses in the United States. Quote, Wang managed and controlled approximately 150 dedicated servers worldwide, approximately 76 of which he leased from U.S.-based online service providers. The Justice Department said, using the dedicated servers Wang deployed and managed applications, commanded and controlled the infected devices, operated his 911S5 service, and provided paying customers with access to proxied IP addresses associated with the infected devices, end quote. Unrelated, but timely,

Europol says police in Germany, the UK and the U.S. also took down botnets that spread ransomware via infected emails, arrested for people, and seized more than 2,000 domains. This is becoming a bit of a gold rush slash land grab at this point. The Atlantic and Vox Media have signed multi-year licensing and product deals with OpenAI. The Atlantic plans in experimental Atlantic Labs with Open AI tech, among other things, quoting Axios. Both multi-year partnerships include agreements in which OpenAI is able to license the publisher's archived content to train its AI models. The Atlantic has been publishing content since 1857. Vox Media is home to more than a dozen major internet content brands such as Vox, The Verge, Eater, The Cut, Vulture, and SB

Nation. Its New York Magazine brand has been publishing since 1968. Both agreements also allow OpenAI to tap into the respective publishers' current content to fuel responses to user queries in OpenAI products, including ChatGPT. OpenAI will include citations to their work when it's referenced in response to a user query, and we'll link out to the relevant article. In a statement, the Atlantic said it will also work with OpenAI to help shape how news is surfaced and presented in any future real-time discovery products from OpenAI. Deal terms weren't disclosed, but it's safe to assume both publishers are being compensated for their content. That's how previous deals between publishers and OpenAI have been

structured. Both deals also include agreements in which the publications can leverage OpenAI's technology to power new journalism products. More major news companies, are opting to strike deals with Open AI rather than pursue litigation for different reasons. In some cases, the deals themselves may end up delivering as much or more cash than a lawsuit settlement and a lot quicker. The deals also help publishers eager to put AI to work in their businesses. The Atlantic's CEO, Nicholas Thompson, for example, said in a statement announcing the deal, we believe that people searching with AI models will be one of the fundamental ways that people navigate the web in the future, end quote. More tea leaves to read in the

Well, at this point, it would be fair to describe it as tense partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft. Sources are telling the information that Sam Altman and Stachia Nadella recently met to discuss Microsoft's concerns about how OpenAI's deal with Apple might affect Microsoft's product ambitions. Quote, when OpenAI's board of directors ousted Sam Altman as CEO last year, it looked like a shocking derailment of a fast-rising career. Even after Altman returned to the role just days later, it seemed like he would be kept on a shorter leash. Instead, he has become more powerful than ever. His primary foes within OpenAI resigned or were pushed out. He is propelling the company's board to overhaul OpenAI's nonprofit structure so that it won't conflict with the multi-billion dollar revenue business

it is building. One possibility is he could turn Open AI into a for-profit corporation, an idea he has discussed, according to a person who has spoken to him. Some investors in the company have said they want Altman to get an equity package to align his interests with the business. Now he's He has fulfilled a long-time goal by striking a deal with Apple to use OpenAI's conversational artificial intelligence in its products, which could be worth billions of dollars to the startup if it goes well, this person said. Aside from the financial windfall, such a deal might bring, a partnership with Apple has the potential to boost OpenAI's position within the tech industry over the long-term. Altman and his colleagues hope the Apple partnership might one day

supplant a long-standing alliance Apple has with Google, OpenAI's main rival, which today handle searches on Apple's Safari browser and is critical to preserving Google's search monopoly. Altman still faces challenges such as rifts between himself and OpenAI employees who have focused on safeguarding its technology. Those conflicts have steadily spilled into public view and could attract regulatory scrutiny. In addition, the Apple deal could complicate Altman's relationship with OpenAI's most important business partner, Microsoft. Altman recently met with Microsoft's CEO Sachin Andella to discuss Microsoft's concerns about how the Apple deal might affect the cloud software giant's own product ambitions, said one person who spoke to Altman and one person who spoke to

Nadella. The two executives also discussed the servers Microsoft would need to handle Apple's use of OpenAI services, one of the people said, end quote. Meanwhile, the Financial Times is reporting that Microsoft pushed OpenAI to prioritize commercial products after that attempted coup against Altman in November, amplifying tensions inside of OpenAI. Quote, one person familiar with the company said that since November's tumult, OpenAI's biggest backer, Microsoft had put more pressure on it to prioritize commercial products that had amplified tensions with those who would prefer to focus on scientific research. Many inside the company still want to focus on its long-term goal of artificial general intelligence, but internal divisions and an unclear strategy from

OpenAI's leadership have demotivated staff, the person said, end quote. Bit of a milestone here for Amazon, the Federal Aviation Administration has approved Amazon's Prime Air Program to fly drones beyond a pilot's line of sight, letting Amazon expand its delivery area in College Station, Texas, quoting Bloomberg. The approval, which means pilots won't need to be able to see the drones with their own eyes, will allow Prime Air to scale deliveries in the U.S., Amazon said on its website Thursday. The company will expand the area its services with unmanned aerial vehicles in College Station, Texas, and will start integrating such shipments into its same-day delivery network this year.

Amazon is the latest company to gain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones more freely amid the proliferation of rapid delivery services. UAVs offer a potential faster, cheaper way to deliver small parcels than paying drivers to fight through traffic and find parking. Amazon, Alphabet, and Walmart have all invested in drones with mixed success. Prime Air was slow to launch. A Bloomberg investigation in 2022 revealed that the program was beset by technical challenges, high turnover, and safety concerns. A serious crash in June 2021 prompted federal

regulators to question the drone's airworthiness because multiple safety features failed and the machine careened out of control, causing a brush fire. Amazon is seeking to deliver 500 million packages a year by drone by the end of the decade. It delivered more than 40 billion units on the same or next day to prime members in the U.S. in 2023, end quote. Apple is seeking a senior engineer to help build a TV and sports app for Android, a sign that the company is bringing its TV plus service to rival platforms. Quoting Bloomberg. In a job listing published in recent days, Apple said it's looking for someone to lead the development of, quote,

fun new features and help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports. A spokesman for Apple declined to comment. The move suggests that the company is looking to gain market share in, video streaming and is setting aside its rivalry with Android in order to chase additional users. It's rare for Apple to develop software for Google's Android, which competes with its iOS platform. Android would provide a big source of potential viewers, though. Apple dominates the market for high-end smartphones. Android, meanwhile, has more users globally. The operating system powers more than 3 billion devices around the world. Apple has roughly 2.2 billion active devices,

with the majority of those being iPhones. Apple has long sought to put TV Plus on as many platforms as possible and already offers apps for smart TVs, Roku, Amazon streaming devices, and game consoles, but it shunned an Android app when TV Plus launched, end quote. Speaking of overlooking markets, and I know that this is probably confirmation bias since I'm a Papa, but I've long wondered why more folks don't chase the tween market for smartwatches. You know, your kid is at an age where you don't want to get them a smartphone yet, but you still want them to be connected to you, want to know where they are, Well, Google has announced the $230 Fitbit Ace LTE, a smartwatch for kids aged 7 and up with games, messaging, and features for parents like location sharing.

Quoting 9 to 5 Google. The Fitbit Ace LTE is Google's newest wearable powered by WearOS and meant to encourage kids ages 7 plus to be healthy through games while also serving as a parent-child communication and real-time location device. A monthly or annual Fitbit Ace Pass subscription is required for cellular connectivity, the Fitbit Arcade and other capabilities. Visually, the ACELTE looks like a Sense 2 or Versa 2 with a rounded square OLED 333 pPI protected by Gorilla Glass 3. In the box, you get a raised plastic bumper that snaps on to further protect the screen. The housing also consists of stainless steel and recycled plastic. Battery life is rated at over 16 hours with standalone LTE connectivity and a lot of gaming factored in, but no Always on Display. The Always On Display can be enabled in the Settings app, which is identical to Wear OS.

However, there's no Play Store, third-party apps, or advertising. To play the games, which are accessed from the bottom triangle button on the right edge, kids have to move. For example, you might not be able to play the next level or chapter until getting more activity in with Google Cheekly calling this interval-based gaming. The Ace LTE lets a kid message call and send voice memos using an IP-based backend to their parents from their wrist. Parents receive and send messages, as well as see a month's worth of move-goal progress, the Fitbit ASAP available on Android and iOS. A child can have up to 20 approved contacts for calling slash messaging on the watch. Parents can view where their kids are in the ACE app with this location data deleted after 24 hours. Privacy and data minimization are big tent poles with activity history in the ASAP, quote, deleted after a maximum of 35 days, end quote. Finally today, this is really interesting to me. Let's say that you, like me, were most intrigued by the Apple Vision Pro for the singular use case of having an infinite desktop in front of you in augmented reality. Well, you now have an alternative because the Sightful Spacetop G1 is a laptop

without a screen. The screen instead is a pair of X-real glasses which you put on to get a 100-inch virtual display. It's shipping in October, though it's not that much less than a Vision Pro coming in at $1900, quoting Wired. The glasses are a newer version from X-Real, but these are still customized for the spacetops needs. Namely, the cameras that shoot out into the real world for augmented reality sensing are specifically pointed slightly downward to detect the spacetop. This helps with a handful of new software features, and more importantly, moving from

the early access model to the G1, I immediately noticed the improved comfort, lighter weight, and overall better wearability of the newer model. You'll be able to get a prescription insert so you can take your glasses off and don the G1 without worry. Boot up SpaceOS and the 100-inch virtual screen and everything immediately feels smoother. The dual OLED displays 1920 by 1080 pixel resolution per eye with a 50-degree field of view. Now support a 90-hertz screen refresh rate, which helps make the content appear more fluid as you move around the operating system. Things look pretty sharp, too, though bring text super close and it'll look a bit fuzzy. The screen itself is brighter, but this is aided by the ability to dim the glasses via the push of a button.

Like transition lenses on sunglasses, you can dim the G1's glasses to two different levels, and this was impressive. I stared out the window on a sunny day in New York City and had trouble seeing the augmented virtual screen. However, after dimming the glasses, the world around mostly faded to black, and the screens were perfectly legible. Berliner even shown his phone's flashlight at my eyes, and I barely noticed the white dot. Safe to say, it feels like you can use the G1 in nearly any lighting condition. SpaceOS is built on Chromium, Google's open source web browser project. Anything you do on the web you can do on the Spacetop G1 in SpaceOS. It's more or less like a Chromebook minus the Android apps.

And it's important to remember that while there's a more powerful processor in the G1, this is still not going to be a machine designed for intensive workflows like video editing. Again, think Chromebook. When I was in SpaceOS, there were more than five browser windows open and laid out around me. You can set this up however you'd like, and SpaceOS will always remember it. The field of view on the G1 can feel a bit small, but several software improvements make interfacing with the OS feel intuitive. The trackpad also now supports gestures. A three-finger swipe to the left will move your entire virtual screen horizontally. Unlike Apple's Vision Pro, where you have to physically

look to the left or right to see your apps placed on the sides of the virtual screen, the Spacetop G1 lets you just move everything to the center with this horizontal scroll function. Smart. Use the same gesture, but move forward and back on the trackpad to push your virtual screen far out or super close, letting you get a bird's eye view of your screens or hone in on a specific task. Finally, if you hit control and use the three-finger gesture to swipe forward on the trackpad, you can move the virtual screen upward. This lets you lie down in bed and move the screen accordingly, so you can continue working. It all feels quite seamless. When I think of augmented reality computing, I think of sleek glasses and nothing else.

With the spacetop G1, you still have to carry a laptop-sized machine, one that weighs a little over three pounds, and a wire coming out the center of the keyboard and running up behind your ear. I'm not sure if most people are ready or even interested in wearing a computer on their faces. Apple's Vision Pro had a lackluster launch, and it's barely a point of conversation anymore mere months after its release. It doesn't help that the Vision Pro was $3,499, but the Spacetop G1 isn't cheap. It starts at $1900. You can buy a much more powerful laptop for that kind of money. Sightful is venture capital funded, having raised around $61 million to date, and it's founded by X Magic Leap executives, which was far from a consumer commercial success. The company pivoted to servicing the enterprise sector, which is not something I'd ruled out

for Sightful, end quote. So the show is slightly later coming to you today, because I had to take Archie, the official podcast, Beagle, to the vet. he has an ear infection, which, you know, normally I'd do the show and take him after that, but it was bothering him so much this morning that he would scratch constantly. And you know when dogs scratch their heads, then they kind of reset by doing that big shake, shake, shake, flop, flop, flop thing. Well, he was just running around the house doing that. So if I had tried to record, you'd be hearing flop, flop, flop, in the background the whole time.

So I had to get him taken care of before I could record. but we got antibiotics and topical medicine, so we should be all good now. Talk to you tomorrow.