Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 08/23 – The Twitter Whistleblower

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

The former head of security at Twitter has blown the whistle on the company saying it was… crap at security. Instagram wants to clone Be Real. More details on the new Sony VR headset. Some eth here, some eth there, eventually brands are making real money on NFTs. And get ready for the biggest leap in smartphone camera tech we’ve seen in a while. Sponsors: CyberSecurityInside.com/ride Links: Former security chief claims Twitter buried ‘egregious deficiencies’ (Washington Post) Instagram's next feature might be a copy of BeReal (Engadget) Apple’s New iPhone 14 to Show India Closing Tech Gap With China (Bloomberg) Sony says the PlayStation VR2 is coming in early 2023 (The Verge) Microsoft is putting more ads in Outlook on iOS and Android (The Verge) NFTs Turn Out to Be a Great Channel of Revenue for Businesses, Ask Nike (NFT Gators) The high-resolution smartphone sensors are coming (The Verge) 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 TechMemebride home for Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022. I'm Brian McCullough today. The former head of security at Twitter has blown the whistle on the company saying it was

crap at security. Instagram wants to clone Be Real. More details on the new Sony VR headset. Some ETH here, some ETH there. Eventually brands are making real money on NFTs and get ready for the biggest leap in smartphone camera tech we've seen in a while. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Bombshell whistleblower complaint. Twitter's ex-head of security, Peter Zatko, alleges the company misled,

the FTC over its security plans, did not protect users, and more bad stuff, quoting the Washington Post. The complaint from former head of security, Peter Zatko, a widely admired hacker known as Mudge, depicts Twitter as a chaotic and runnerless company beset by infighting, unable to properly protect its 238 million daily users, including government agencies, heads of state, and other influential public figures. Among the most serious accusations in the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Post, is that Twitter violated the terms of an 11-year-old settlement with the Federal Trade Commission by falsely claiming that it had a solid security plan. Zatko's complaint alleges he had warned colleagues that half the company's servers were running out-of-date and vulnerable

software, and that executives withheld dire facts about the number of breaches and lack of protection for user data, instead presenting directors with rosy charts measuring unimportant changes. The complaint filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice as well as the FTC, says thousands of employees still had wide-ranging and poorly tracked internal access to core company software, a situation that for years had led to embarrassing hacks, including the commandeering of accounts held by such high-profile users as Elon Musk and former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Chief Executive Paragag Agarwal was, quote, lying when he tweeted in May that the company was, quote, strongly incentivized to detect and remove as much spam as we

possibly can. The complaint alleges, in an interview with the post, Zatko described his decision to go public as an extension of his previous work exposing flaws in specific pieces of software and broader systemic failings in cybersecurity. He was hired at Twitter by former CEO Jack Dorsey in late 2020, after a major hack of the company's systems. I felt ethically bound. This is not a light step to take, said Zatko, who was fired by Agrawal in January. He declined to discuss what happened at Twitter except to stand by the formal complaint. Under SEC whistleblower rules, he is entitled to legal protection against retaliation

as well as potential monetary rewards, end quote. Hmm. Wonder who might be interested in hearing what this whistleblower has to say. Oh, seems that the Post is also reporting that Elon Musk scheduled a deposition with Zatko before the complaint became public, signaling its usefulness to his case. Musk has also subpoenaed former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey ahead of his trial with Twitter set to begin on October 17th in the Delaware Court of Chancery. And just like that, all of a sudden, everything in this case is coming up Elon. Had to know this was coming. Instagram is internally testing Candid.

challenges, a be-reel-like feature that gives users two minutes to take and share a photo at a different time each day. Quoting in Gadget. The currently unreleased feature was spotted by Alessandro Paluzzi, a developer known for reverse engineering apps and finding early versions of upcoming updates. An Instagram spokesperson confirmed the feature is an internal prototype, but declined to provide additional details. According to Paluzzi, Instagram users participating in candid challenges, will see a notification at different times each day to snap a photo of their surroundings. Upon getting the prompt, the Instagram camera will also open with both front and rear-facing shooters and give users a two-minute window to snap a pick.

Content shared via the challenges will appear in the stories tray. If that sounds familiar, it's because the functionality sounds nearly identical to be real, a selfie app marketed as a more candid and authentic alternative to mainstream social media platforms. The app, which originally launched in 2019, also prompts users to take a photo using their phones front and rear facing cameras at a random time each day. The daily prompts also expire after two minutes, after which users can view all the photos shared by their friends that day. It's not yet clear if or when Instagram intends to launch the feature. An Instagram spokesperson described the feature as an internal prototype that's not testing externally, end quote, but the fact that the

company is testing, the functionality suggests it's at least considering replicating the app inside of its own service. Be Real has a big following among Gen Z and has been rising in popularity over the last several months. Be Real is currently sitting in the top position in Apple's App Store ahead of both Instagram at number 8 and Facebook at number 18. It's been among the 10 most popular free apps for much of the summer, end quote. Answering Concern trolls like me, sources are telling Bloomberg that Apple plans to begin manufacturing the iPhone 14 in India about two months after its release, shortening the production gap between India and China. Quote, the company has been working with suppliers to ramp up manufacturing in India and shorten the lag in production of the new iPhone from the typical

six to nine months for previous launches, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple, which long made most of its iPhones in China, is seeking alternatives as Xi Jinping's administration clashes with the U.S. government and imposes lockdowns across the country that have disrupted economic activity. Analysts such as Ming Chi Kuo of TF International Securities Group have said they anticipate Apple will ship the next iPhone from both countries at roughly the same time, which would have been a significant benchmark in Apple's efforts to diversify its supply chain and build redundancy. Foxcon Technology, the primary manufacturer of iPhone, studied the process of shipping components from China and assembling the iPhone 14 device at its plant outside the southern Indian city of Chennai,

said the people who asked not to be identified because the efforts are confidential. That included looking at ways to maintain Apple's high standards for confidentiality. Apple and Foxcon ultimately determined a simultaneous start in India and China isn't realistic this year, although it remains a long-term goal, said the people. The first iPhone 14s from India are likely to be finished in late October or November, following the initial September release, they said. An ambitious target would be the Diwali Festival that begins October 24th, one person said, end quote. News today that Sony says the PlayStation VR2 is coming in early 2023, quoting the verge.

While the company released details of the headset's design earlier this year, it still hasn't announced a price. It is, however, promising a lot for the PlayStation VR2. It'll feature displays that add up to 4K resolution and can run at 90 or 120 hertz, have a 110-degree field of view, and use foviated rendering, which renders certain parts of the image as sharper than others, to make things easier for the computer, or in this case the PlayStation 5. The company also says the headset connects to your console with a single USB, cable. Sony has already announced it will have a lineup of about 20 major games available when it launches. The titles include games set in the Horizon and Walking Dead universes, as well as

VR versions of No Man Sky and Resident Evil Village. Unlike the original PlayStation VR headset, the PS VR2 won't use a camera connected to your console to track your movements. Instead, it'll use inside-out tracking similar to the Quest 2, where cameras on the headset itself are in charge of the motion tracking. This means that the PSVR2 will also be able to let you see your surroundings while you're wearing the headset. Sony also says that the PlayStation 5 will let you broadcast yourself playing VR games, though you will have to have a PlayStation HD camera connected. Sony has also shown off the orb-shaped controllers, which will have adaptive triggers and haptic feedback like what's offered with Sony's dual sense controller for the PS5.

They'll also have finger touch detection, which can sense where you rest your thumb index or middle fingers without having to press anything. The PSVR2 will only work with the PS5, given that it's been hard to get your hands on the console since it launched in November 2020. That may seem like a bad idea. However, there are some signs that those issues could be clearing up. The consoles no longer sell out immediately after Sony opens a queue for them, and you've been able to buy a bundle that includes Horizon Forbidden West for a few days now. At the moment, it seems possible that by the time the headset comes out, you may just be able to pick up a PS5 whenever you want. With that said, there is always the possibility that Sony will struggle with stock of the PSVR2,

in which case the PS5's availability may just be one part of the equation for those trying to get into VR gaming, end quote. Microsoft is putting more ads in Outlook for iOS and Android for users of its free services. The thing that's a bit annoying about this, aside from the obvious, you know, ads, is that the ads appear at the top of your inbox and look for all the world like real emails. Quoting the Verge. The Outlook mobile app gives users two options for organizing their inbox, a single inbox with everything in it,

or a tabbed inbox split between two categories, focused with important mail and other with all the rest. Previously, Microsoft only put ads in the other tab for free users, but it's now adding them to the single inbox mode too. The change has been rolling out over the past few months and essentially means Microsoft is making it harder for free users to avoid ads in Outlook mobile. Whatever inbox mode you use, there will be ads somewhere in the mix, either at the top of your other tab or at the top of your regular inbox.

Indeed, the only way to now avoid ads in Outlook Mobile is to pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription. The ads appear at the top of an inbox and look confusingly like real emails, similar to how both Microsoft and Google display ads inside the web versions of Outlook and Gmail. You can swipe to delete the email-like ads, they'll soon reappear, and opening one will display advertising content within an in-app browser, end quote. Thad or not a fad, maybe the start of something huge, an entire industry maybe, but either way, you know, NFTs are basically just free money for brands.

According to Dune Analytics, Nike's NFT sales have generated it $185 million, followed by Dulchie and Gabana, who has generated $25.7 million in NFT sales. Tiffany with 12.6 million, Gucci with 11.6 million, and Adidas with 10.9 million. Quoting NFT Gators. Nike seems to have found the perfect mix, blending virtual experiences with its iconic branding rights to net a whopping $185 million in revenue from NFT sales. The company acquired NFT startup RTFKT to accelerate its Web3 strategy in December last year. According to the data compiled by At King James 23 on Dune Analytics,

Nike has amassed nearly $1.3 billion in transaction volume from secondary trading of its NFTs to add to $93 million worth of primary sales whilst also generating $92 million in royalties. Clone X tops Nike's list of collections with the highest royalty fees generated with $39.93 million, followed at a distant second by Nike Sneakers-themed NFT Collection Monolith, which generated $24.22 million for the sportswear brand. Although Nike's total NFT transactions have slowed over the last three months, the company still managed to register 6,362 ETH last month. Its best month came in April when it raked in 12,776 ETH, outperforming December 2022's equivalent of 11,357 ETH the month it acquired RTFKT, end quote. Finally today, you might be

bored with the whole smartphone space as there's seemingly nothing new that can be added. No new, real, meaningful iterations, right? Well, what if I told you we're on the cusp of a smartphone camera revolution? Get ready for high-resolution sensors, quoting The Verge. According to a new report from Korean outlet, ET News, spotted by Android Authority, it's looking very likely that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will use the 200 megapixel camera sensor that the company launched last year. That is a whole lot of pixels, and Samsung isn't alone in the...

this newest megapixel arms race. Motorola beat the company to the punch with the Motorola X-30 Pro. Even Apple, a 12-machixel camera Dave O-T, looks like it will finally move to higher resolution 48 megapixel camera sensors with the iPhone 14. It's not all about big numbers. Moving to higher pixel count sensors has real image quality benefits. In this chapter of the megapixel race, it's all about pixel binning. Samsung already employs this with its 108 megapixel sensor, and taking a super high-res photo isn't the point. Rather, combining individual pixels into four-by-four or two-by-two configurations is. All things being equal, bigger pixels will collect more light and make your low-light images better. By default, you get a 12-magipixel final image, so there's no risk of

unknowingly filling up your phone storage with 200 megapixel photos. Great, right? But there's a catch. Based on rumors right now, it looks like only the most expensive models in Samsung and Apple's lineup will get the high-res sensors, the S-23 Ultra and the pro models of the iPhone 14. The rest of us will just have to keep making do with 12, or if you're lucky, 50 megapixels until high-res sensors trickle down to the basic flagships, end quote. Nothing for you today. Talk to you tomorrow.