23andMe is not doing well. Its stock is on the verge of being delisted. It shut down its in-house drug-development unit last month, only the latest in several rounds of layoffs. Last week, the entire board of directors quit, save for Anne Wojcicki, a co-founder and the company's CEO. Amid this downward spiral, Wojcicki has said she'll consider selling 23andMe -- which means the DNA of 23andMe's 15 million customers would be up for sale, too. The Atlantic: 23andMe's trove of genetic data might be its most valuable asset. For about two decades now, since human-genome analysis became quick and common, the A's, C's, G's, and T's of DNA have allowed long-lost relatives to connect, revealed family secrets, and helped police catch serial killers. Some people's genomes contain clues to what's making them sick, or even, occasionally, how their disease should be treated. For most of us, though, consumer tests don't have much to offer beyond a snapshot of our ancestors' roots and confirmation of the traits we already know about. 23andMe is floundering in part because it hasn't managed to prove the value of collecting all that sensitive, personal information. And potential buyers may have very different ideas about how to use the company's DNA data to raise the company's bottom line. This should concern anyone who has used the service.

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SpzToid shares a report: Today, a group of independent security researchers revealed that they'd found a flaw in a web portal operated by the carmaker Kia that let the researchers reassign control of the Internet-connected features of most modern Kia vehicles -- dozens of models representing millions of cars on the road -- from the smartphone of a car's owner to the hackers' own phone or computer. By exploiting that vulnerability and building their own custom app to send commands to target cars, they were able to scan virtually any Internet-connected Kia vehicle's license plate and within seconds gain the ability to track that car's location, unlock the car, honk its horn, or start its ignition at will. After the researchers alerted Kia to the problem in June, Kia appears to have fixed the vulnerability in its web portal, though it told WIRED at the time that it was still investigating the group's findings and hasn't responded to WIRED's emails since then. But Kia's patch is far from the end of the car industry's web-based security problems, the researchers say. The web bug they used to hack Kias is, in fact, the second of its kind that they've reported to the Hyundai-owned company; they found a similar technique for hijacking Kias' digital systems last year. And those bugs are just two among a slew of similar web-based vulnerabilities they've discovered within the last two years that have affected cars sold by Acura, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Toyota, and more.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch a satellite into Earth's orbit in 2027 to watch it get wrecked as it reenters the atmosphere. From a report: The project is intended to help understand how exactly satellites break apart so that scientists can learn how to prevent the creation of more space debris. Space junk is becoming a bigger problem as we send more satellites into orbit, but there are efforts to try and address it. This mission is part of the ESA's Zero Debris Charter initiative to stop the creation of additional space debris by 2030. The mission is called the Destructive Reentry Assessment Container Object (DRACO), and the insides of the satellite will collect data as the craft gets destroyed during reentry into the atmosphere. It will also contain a 40-centimeter capsule designed to survive the destruction that will transmit the collected data as the capsule moves toward the ocean.

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The United Nations is set to vote on a treaty later this year intended to create norms for fighting cybercrime -- and the Biden administration is fretting over whether to sign on. Politico: The uncertainty over the treaty stems from fears that countries including Russia, Iran and China could use the text as a guise for U.N. approval of their widespread surveillance measures and suppression of the digital rights of their citizens. If the United States chooses not to vote in favor of the treaty, it could become easier for these adversarial nations -- named by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as the biggest state sponsors of cybercrime -- to take the lead on cyber issues in the future. And if the U.S. walks away from the negotiating table now, it could upset other nations that spent several years trying to nail down the global treaty with competing interests in mind. While the treaty is not set for a vote during the U.N. General Assembly this week, it's a key topic of debate on the sidelines, following meetings in New York City last week, and committee meetings set for next month once the world's leaders depart. The treaty was troubled from its inception. A cybercrime convention was originally proposed by Russia, and the U.N. voted in late 2019 to start the process to draft it -- overruling objections by the U.S. and other Western nations. Those countries were worried Russia would use the agreement as an alternative to the Budapest Convention -- an existing accord on cybercrime administered by the Council of Europe, which Russia, China and Iran have not joined.

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Steam just removed its forced arbitration policy, opening the door for lawsuits against its parent company, Valve. From a report: In an update on Thursday, Steam says its subscriber agreement "now provides that any disputes are to go forward in court instead of arbitration." Many companies include a forced arbitration clause in their user agreement, waiving a person's right to a trial in court. Arbitration involves settling a dispute outside a legal system before an impartial third party. This method is often faster but may not get the best results for consumers, as arbitrators don't need to consider the law when issuing a decision.

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wiredmikey writes: Three months after pulling previews of the controversial Windows Recall feature due to public backlash, Microsoft says it has completely overhauled the security architecture with proof-of-presence encryption, anti-tampering and DLP checks, and screenshot data managed in secure enclaves outside the main operating system. In an interview with SecurityWeek, Microsoft vice president David Weston said the company's engineers rewrote the security model of Windows Recall to reduce attack surface on Copilot+ PCs and minimize the risk of malware attackers targeting the screenshot data store.

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The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday against three Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump's presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organizations. From a report: The three accused hackers were employed by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and their operation also targeted a broad swath of targets, including government officials, members of the media and non-governmental organizations, the Justice Department said. The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. Multiple major news organizations that said they were leaked confidential information from inside the Trump campaign, including Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post, declined to publish it.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple is rethinking its movie strategy after the disappointing box office performance of several big-budget films, including Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, Napoleon, Argylle and Fly Me to the Moon. Apple canceled plans to release Wolfs -- an action comedy starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt -- in thousands of theaters globally. Instead, the picture made its debut in a limited number of venues before it became available on the Apple TV+ streaming service on Sept. 27. Apple plans to use a similar approach with the next few titles on its calendar, including the World War II drama Blitz. Apple, which previously had intended to spend about $1 billion annually on blockbusters for cinemas, won't return to the big screen with a wide, global theatrical release until June with F1 -- a film starring Pitt as a former Formula One driver who returns to racing to mentor a rising star. [...] Apple is pulling back from theaters at the same time Netflix Inc. and Amazon are reworking their movie strategies. Earlier this year, Netflix hired producer Dan Lin to oversee its film studio, which had spent billions of dollars a year to produce more films than any other company in Hollywood. Yet Netflix struggled to control the quality and cost of its slate, which in some years approached 50 movies. For every hit, such as Bird Box, there were several misses. Lin's predecessor Scott Stuber also clashed with management over its strategy for movie theaters. Stuber wanted to release movies such as Scorsese's The Irishman and the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion widely in cinemas, but he couldn't persuade Netflix co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos. Lin aims to make fewer movies and develop more projects in-house to keep costs down. He has considered scrapping several of the more expensive projects in development at Netflix.

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) executives have dismissed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's ambitious chip-making proposal as unrealistic, according to The New York Times. Altman, seeking to boost AI computing power, pitched a $7 trillion plan to build 36 semiconductor plants over several years during a visit to TSMC's Taiwan headquarters. TSMC leaders reportedly found Altman's proposal so far-fetched that they privately referred to him as a "podcasting bro," reflecting skepticism about his grasp of the semiconductor industry's complexities. The world's largest contract chipmaker, already grappling with multi-billion dollar expansion projects, viewed Altman's scheme as overly risky given the massive capital requirements and market uncertainties.

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Dell is requiring global sales employees to work from offices five days a week starting September 30, according to an internal memo. The move aims to foster collaboration and skill development. Field representatives must spend five days weekly with customers, partners, or in-office, up from the previous three-day requirement, Dell says in the memo, according to Reuters. Remote workers unable to access Dell offices will continue working from home.

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OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, is experiencing significant internal turmoil as a wave of high-profile departures, including Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, rocks the company. Over 20 researchers and executives have left this year, reflecting deepening tensions between the organization's original nonprofit mission and its new profit-driven focus, WSJ reported Friday. Employees report rushed product launches and inadequate safety testing, raising concerns about OpenAI's technological edge. CEO Sam Altman's global promotional efforts have reportedly left him detached from daily operations. The shift towards a conventional business model, with new C-suite appointments and a $6.5 billion funding drive, has alienated longtime staff who fear the company is abandoning its founding principles.

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Apple has pulled 60 VPNs from its App Store in Russia, according to research from anti-censorship org GreatFire. From a report: The iThing-maker's action comes amid a Kremlin crackdown on VPNs that has already seen a ban on privacy-related extensions to the open source Firefox browser. The software's developer, Mozilla, defied that ban and allowed the extensions back into its web store. In July, Apple removed at least one VPN from its Russian App Store. Cupertino removed at least 60 more between early July and September 18, according to research by GreatFire posted to its site that tracks Apple censorship. The org's research asserts that 98 VPNs are now unavailable in Russia -- but doesn't specify if the removals were made in the iOS or macOS app stores.

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Google has restricted the creation of new accounts for Russian users, state news agencies cited Russia's digital ministry as saying on Thursday. Reuters: Google has been under pressure in Russia for several years, particularly for not taking down content Moscow considers illegal and for blocking the YouTube channels of Russian media and public figures since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "The ministry confirms that Google has restricted the creation of new accounts," Interfax quoted the digital ministry as saying. "Telecom operators have also recorded a significant reduction in the number of SMS messages sent by the company to Russian users."

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An anonymous reader shares a report: In the decade-long fight to control CRISPR, the super-tool for modifying DNA, it's been common for lawyers to try to overturn patents held by competitors by pointing out errors or inconsistencies. But now, in a surprise twist, the team that earned the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing CRISPR is asking to cancel two of their own seminal patents, MIT Technology Review has learned. The decision could affect who gets to collect the lucrative licensing fees on using the technology. The request to withdraw the pair of European patents, by lawyers for Nobelists Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, comes after a damaging August opinion from a European technical appeals board, which ruled that the duo's earliest patent filing didn't explain CRISPR well enough for other scientists to use it and doesn't count as a proper invention. The Nobel laureates' lawyers say the decision is so wrong and unfair that they have no choice but to preemptively cancel their patents, a scorched-earth tactic whose aim is to prevent the unfavorable legal finding from being recorded as the reason.

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Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has defended its decision to automatically replace its antivirus software on U.S. customers' computers with UltraAV, a product from American company Pango, without explicit user consent. The forced switch, affecting nearly one million users, occurred as a result of a U.S. government ban on Kaspersky software. Kaspersky spokesperson Francesco Tius told TechCrunch that the company informed eligible U.S. customers via email about the migration, which began in early September. Windows users experienced an automatic transition to ensure continuous protection, while Mac and mobile users were instructed to manually install UltraAV. Some customers expressed alarm at the unannounced software swap. Kaspersky blamed missed notifications on unregistered email addresses, directing users to in-app messages and an online FAQ. The abrupt change raises concerns about user autonomy and privacy in software updates, particularly as UltraAV lacks an established security track record.

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An anonymous reader shares a New Yorker story: Ultimately, the iPhone 16 does little to meaningfully improve on the experience I had with the 12, besides, perhaps, charging with a USB-C, as my laptop does, cutting down on the number of cords I have to keep track of. Instead, the greatest leaps in Apple's hardware are largely directed at those niche users who are already invested in using tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The company has announced that, within a month or so, the new phones will be able to operate its proprietary artificial-intelligence system, which means that users may soon be relying on A.I. to perform daily personal tasks, like navigating their calendars or responding to e-mails. The 15 and 16 Pros can take three-dimensional photos, designed for V.R., using the Apple Vision Pro. Thus far, I don't use A.I. tools or V.R. with any frequency and have no intention of doing so on my iPhone. The fact that I do not need an iPhone 16 is a testament not so much to the iPhone's failure as to its resounding success. A lot of the digital software we rely on has grown worse for users in recent years; the iPhone, by contrast, has become so good that it's hard to imagine anything but incremental improvements. Apple's teleological phone-design strategy may have simply reached its end point, the same way evolution in nature has repeatedly resulted in an optimized species of crab. Other tech companies, meanwhile, are embracing radical departures in phone design. Samsung offers devices that fold in half, creating a smaller screen that's useful for minor tasks, such as texting, and a larger one for watching videos; Huawei is upping the ante with three folds. The BOOX Palma has become a surprise hit as a smartphone-ish device with an e-ink screen, similar to Amazon's Kindle, which uses physical pixels in its display. Dumbphones, too, are growing more popular by intentionally doing less. Apple devices, by contrast, remain effective enough that they can afford to be somewhat static.

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A year-long test of Apple's 80% charge limit feature on the iPhone 15 Pro Max has revealed only marginal benefits to battery health. MacRumors editor Juli Clover reported her device maintained 94% battery capacity after 299 charge cycles, compared to 87-90% capacity for iPhones without the limit. The opt-in setting, introduced with iPhone 15 models, aims to extend battery longevity by restricting maximum charge. Clover adhered strictly to the 80% limit for 12 months, noting occasional inconveniences like depleted batteries during long days. While the test showed slightly better battery health retention, Clover questioned whether the trade-off in daily usability was worthwhile. She adds: I don't have a lot of data points for comparison, but it does seem that limiting the charge to 80 percent kept my maximum battery capacity higher than what my co-workers are seeing, but there isn't a major difference. I have four percent more battery at 28 more cycles, and I'm not sure suffering through an 80 percent battery limit for 12 months was ultimately worth it. It's possible that the real gains from an 80 percent limit will come in two or three years rather than a single year, and I'll keep it limited to 80 percent to see the longer term impact.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law (AB 2426) to combat "disappearing" purchases of digital games, movies, music, and ebooks. The legislation will force digital storefronts to tell customers they're just getting a license to use the digital media, rather than suggesting they actually own it. From a report: When the law comes into effect next year, it will ban digital storefronts from using terms like "buy" or "purchase," unless they inform customers that they're not getting unrestricted access to whatever they're buying. Storefronts will have to tell customers they're getting a license that can be revoked as well as provide a list of all the restrictions that come along with it. Companies that break the rule could be fined for false advertising.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Google Maps is reeling in business pages engaging in fake reviews, and highlighting such activity to its users. Google will now impose restrictions against business profiles that violate the search giant's Fake Engagement policy, such as temporarily removing reviews, blocking new reviews or ratings, and displaying a warning message on profiles that have had fake reviews deleted. The business profile restrictions were introduced in the UK earlier this year, but Search Engine Roundtable notes that the support page was updated in mid-September to seemingly apply globally. For the moment, however, only users in the UK are seeing the business warnings.

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Intel has released microcode update 0x12B for its 13th and 14th generation Core processors, addressing persistent stability issues stemming from voltage irregularities. The update targets a specific clock tree circuit within the CPU's IA core that was causing elevated voltage requests during idle and light workloads. The company identified four key factors contributing to voltage instability: motherboards exceeding Intel's power specifications, an Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost algorithm allowing sustained high performance at elevated temperatures, frequent high voltage requests from the processor, and problematic microcode demanding elevated core voltages during low-activity periods. While previous update 0x129 addressed some concerns, the new 0x12B update aims to resolve the root cause of the "Vmin shift" problem, where voltage spikes lead to increased power requirements and potential degradation over time. Intel is working with motherboard manufacturers to roll out BIOS updates incorporating the new microcode.

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