U.S. authorities are investigating Chinese router manufacturer TP-Link over national security risks and considering banning its devices, WSJ reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The Commerce, Defense and Justice departments have launched separate probes into the company, which controls approximately 65% of the U.S. home and small business router market. Microsoft reported in October that Chinese hackers had compromised thousands of TP-Link routers to launch cyberattacks against Western targets, including government organizations and Defense Department suppliers. The company's routers are widely used across federal agencies, including the Defense Department and NASA. The Justice Department is also examining whether TP-Link's significantly lower pricing violates federal anti-monopoly laws, the report said.

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The Supreme Court has rejected the broadband industry's challenge to a New York law that requires Internet providers to offer $15- or $20-per-month service to people with low incomes. From a report: In August, six trade groups representing the cable, telecom, mobile, and satellite industries filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that upheld the state law. But the Supreme Court won't take up the case. The Supreme Court denied the telecom groups' petition without comment in a list of orders released yesterday. Although a US District Court judge blocked the law in 2021, that judge's ruling was reversed by the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in April 2024. The Supreme Court's denial of the industry petition leaves the 2nd Circuit ruling in place. The appeals court ruling is an important one for the broader question of how states can regulate broadband providers when the Federal Communications Commission isn't doing so. Trade groups claimed the state law is preempted by former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's repeal of net neutrality rules, which ended Title II common-carrier regulation of ISPs. In a 2-1 opinion, a panel of 2nd Circuit appeals court judges said the Pai-era FCC "order stripped the agency of its authority to regulate the rates charged for broadband Internet, and a federal agency cannot exclude states from regulating in an area where the agency itself lacks regulatory authority."

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Hundreds of websites will be shut down on the day that Britain's Online Safety Act comes into effect, in what are believed to be the first casualties of the new internet laws. From a report: Microcosm, a web forum hosting service that runs 300 sites including cycling forums and local community hubs, said that the sites would go offline on March 16, the day that Ofcom starts enforcing the Act. Its owner said they were unable to comply with the lengthy requirements of the Act, which created a "disproportionately high personal liability." The new laws, which were designed to crack down on illegal content and protect children, threaten fines of at least $23 million for sites that fail to comply with the laws. On Monday, Ofcom set out more than 40 measures that it expects online services to follow by March, such as carrying out risk assessments about their sites and naming senior people accountable for ensuring safety.

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Renters in the U.S. spent an extra $3.8 billion last year because of pricing algorithms used by landlords, according to an analysis from White House Council of Economic Advisers. Axios reports: The report puts some hard numbers to accusations that have piled up against RealPage, a company that makes software that helps big landlords and property managers set prices. In August, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against the company, alleging its pricing algorithm allows landlords to collectively push rents higher.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) believes that China, Russia, Iran, and Israel are the "primary" countries exploiting security holes in telecommunications networks to spy on people inside the United States, which can include tracking their physical movements and intercepting calls and texts, according to information released by Senator Ron Wyden. 404 Media: The news provides more context around use of SS7, the exploited network and protocol, against phones in the country. In May, 404 Media reported that an official inside DHS's Cybersecurity Insurance and Security Agency (CISA) broke with his department's official narrative and publicly warned about multiple SS7 attacks on U.S. persons in recent years. Now, the newly disclosed information provides more specifics on where at least some SS7 attacks are originating from. The information is included in a letter the Department of Defense (DoD) wrote in response to queries from the office of Senator Wyden. The letter says that in September 2017 DHS personnel gave a presentation on SS7 security threats at an event open to U.S. government officials. The letter says that Wyden staff attended the event and saw the presentation. One slide identified the "primary countries reportedly using telecom assets of other nations to exploit U.S. subscribers," it continues.

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An Alabama woman became the third person to receive a pig kidney transplant, doctors at NYU Langone Health announced Tuesday. Towana Looney, 53, underwent the procedure on November 25 and was discharged December 6. Her kidney came from a pig with 10 genetic modifications designed to prevent organ rejection. The surgery follows two previous pig kidney transplants this year -- Richard Slayman at Massachusetts General Hospital, who died two months post-surgery from cardiac complications, and Lisa Pisano at NYU Langone, whose transplanted kidney was removed after 47 days due to blood flow issues.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: A Chinese hacker indicted earlier this month and the PRC-based cybersecurity company he worked for are both sanctioned by the US government for compromising "tens of thousands of firewalls" -- some protecting US critical infrastructure, putting human lives at risk. In a series of coordinated actions, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Department of Justice (DoJ), and the FBI said the massive cyber espionage campaign, which compromised at least 36 firewalls protecting US critical infrastructure, posed significant risks to national security. A federal court in Indiana earlier this month unsealed an indictment charging 30-year-old Guan Tianfeng (Guan) with conspiracy to commit computer and wire fraud by hacking into firewall devices worldwide, including one "used by an agency of the United States." Guan, employed by the Chinese cybersecurity firm Sichuan Silence -- a known contractor for Beijing intelligence -- was alleged to have discovered a zero-day vulnerability in firewall products manufactured by UK cybersecurity firm Sophos.

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Seagate has launched its first mass-produced hard drives using heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, introducing 32TB and 30TB models under the Exos M brand. The drives, based on Seagate's Mozaic 3+ platform, mark the company's commercial breakthrough in HAMR technology after 16 years of development. Compatible with existing systems, the 32TB model uses shingled magnetic recording, while the 30TB version employs conventional magnetic recording.

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Manhattan's iconic neon landscape is facing extinction as property owners increasingly replace historic neon signs with LED alternatives. From Times Square's dwindling glassworks to the recent losses at Smith's Bar and Subway Inn, the trend has accelerated across both small businesses and major landmarks, Curbed reports. Rockefeller Center's proposal to replace its 1935 neon signage with LEDs marks a significant moment in this shift, highlighting tensions between energy efficiency and preserving the city's luminous cultural heritage. Of approximately 75,000 outdoor neon signs permitted between 1923-1956, only about 130 remain.

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Nvidia unveiled a $249 version of its Jetson AI computer Tuesday, targeting hobbyists and small companies with a device that offers 70% more processing power than its predecessor at half the cost. The Jetson Orin Nano Super functions as a portable AI brain for robotics and industrial automation, allowing developers to run AI computations directly without data center connections. The palm-sized device, demonstrated by Nvidia founder Jensen Huang, uses less advanced chips than the company's high-end products. While Nvidia primarily serves major companies and AI startups, the budget-friendly Jetson line aims to make AI development more accessible to students and smaller developers working on drones and cameras.

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Framework has announced a $39 Dual M.2 Adapter for its Laptop 16, enabling users to add two additional M.2 slots to the laptop's expansion bay. The new component allows for up to 26TB of total storage when combined with the laptop's existing SSD slots, supporting various M.2 form factors with PCIe 4.0 connectivity. The company also replaced the Laptop 16's liquid metal cooling system with Honeywell PTM7958 thermal paste to address performance concerns. Framework will provide the new thermal solution to existing customers upon request. The adapter marks Framework's first modular expansion component for the Laptop 16 since its launch, complementing the optional Radeon RX 7700S graphics card offering.

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The Federal Trade Commission unveiled a sweeping rule on Tuesday to crack down on hidden fees in ticket sales and hotel bookings, marking a major push by the agency to combat what it calls "junk fees" that cost consumers billions of dollars annually. The bipartisan measure requires businesses to display the total price, including all mandatory fees, upfront when advertising tickets for live events or short-term lodging. The rule aims to end the practice of surprising customers with additional charges like "resort," "convenience," or "service" fees late in the booking process. "People deserve to know up-front what they're being asked to pay," said FTC Chair Lina Khan, who estimates the rule could save consumers up to 53 million hours per year in comparison shopping time, equivalent to $11 billion over a decade. The rule, approved by a 4-1 commission vote, does not ban any specific fees but requires clear disclosure before consumers enter payment information. It will take effect 120 days after publication in the Federal Register. The measure follows a lengthy public comment period that drew over 72,000 responses and represents one of the FTC's most significant consumer protection actions in recent years.

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Meta has been fined around $263 million in the European Union for a Facebook security breach that affected millions of users which the company disclosed back in September 2018. From a report: The penalty, issued on Tuesday by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) -- enforcing the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) -- is far from being the largest GDPR fine Meta has been hit with since the regime came into force over five years ago but is notable for being a substantial sanction for a single security incident. The breach it relates to dates back to July 2017 when Facebook, as the company was still known then, rolled out a video upload function that included a "View as" feature which let the user see their own Facebook page as it would be seen by another user. A bug in the design allowed users making use of the feature to invoke the video uploader in conjunction with Facebook's 'Happy Birthday Composer' facility to generate a fully permissioned user token that gave them full access to the Facebook profile of that other user. They could then use the token to exploit the same combination of features on other accounts -- gaining unauthorized access to multiple users' profiles and data, per the DPC.

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Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has once again argued for Indian workers to spend 70 hours a week in paid employment. From a report: Murthy called for the long working hours in October 2023 and then again in January 2024, and recently shared his opinion that two-day weekends were a mistake. His views have earned plenty of criticism, but he's not backing down. On Sunday he addressed the Indian chamber of Commerce's centenary celebration and reportedly argued 70-hour weeks are necessary because millions of Indian citizens remain in poverty, so those who have jobs should work long hours and embrace entrepreneurialism to create jobs for others.

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Thirteen vapes are thrown away every second in the UK -- more than a million a day -- leading to an "environmental nightmare," according to research. From a report: There has also been a rise in "big puff" vapes which are bigger and can hold up to 6,000 puffs per vape, with single use vapes averaging 600. Three million of these larger vapes are being bought every week according to the research, commissioned by Material Focus, and conducted by Opinium. 8.2 million vapes are now thrown away or recycled incorrectly every week. From June 2025 it will be illegal to sell single-use vapes, a move designed to combat environmental damage and their widespread use by children. Vapes will only be allowed to be sold if they are rechargeable or contain a refillable cartridge. But all types of vape contain lithium-ion batteries which are dangerous if crushed or damaged because they can cause fires in bin lorries or waste and recycling centres. These fires are on the rise across the UK, with an increase last year of 71% compared with 2022.

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WordPress co-founder and CEO of Automattic Matt Mullenweg is trolling contributors and users of the WordPress open-source project by requiring them to check a box that says "Pineapple is delicious on pizza." From a report: The change was spotted by WordPress contributors late Sunday, and is still up as of Monday morning. Trying to log in or create a new account without checking the box returns a "please try again" error. Last week, as part of the ongoing legal battle between WP Engine and Automattic, the company that owns WordPress.com, a judge ordered Mullenweg to remove a controversial login checkbox from WordPress.org that required users to pledge that they were not affiliated with WP Engine before logging in.

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Arctic Wolf has acquired Cylance, BlackBerry's beleaguered cybersecurity business, for $160 million -- a significant discount from the $1.4 billion BlackBerry paid to acquire the startup in 2018. From a report: Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close in BlackBerry's fiscal Q4, BlackBerry will sell its Cylance assets to Arctic Wolf for $160 million in cash. BlackBerry will get ~$80 million at closing and the rest of the tranche a year later, along with roughly 5.5 million common shares in Arctic Wolf.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Google announced it's rolling out ChromeOS M131 to non-beta users, bringing with it a handy "Safety reset" feature that lets Chromebook users reset their laptops without totally wiping them. The update also introduced a new "Flash notifications" accessibility option to help those who might not otherwise easily hear or see them. Like Powerwash in ChromeOS, Safety reset will wipe the slate clean if you're experiencing computer virus-like behavior such as unusual pop-ups. But where Powerwash is a full factory reset, Safety reset preserves local data and apps, as well as things like bookmarks and saved passwords, according to a help document about the feature.

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Apple is preparing a series of major design and format changes to its lineup of iPhones and potentially other products, according to WSJ, a bid to revive growth after years of offering largely incremental upgrades. From the report: Starting next year, Apple plans to introduce an iPhone that will be thinner than the approximately 8-millimeter profile of current models, said people familiar with the company's plans. The model is intended to be cheaper than Pro models, with a simplified camera system to reduce costs. The company is also planning two foldable devices, the people said. A larger device, intended to serve as a laptop, would have a screen that unfolds to be nearly as large as some desktop monitors, at about 19 inches. A smaller model would unfold to a display size that would be larger than an iPhone 16 Pro Max, intended to serve as a foldable iPhone, the people said. Both foldable designs have been in development for years, but some key parts weren't ready. Major challenges included improving the hinge, a mechanism that allows the device to fold and unfold, and the display cover, a flexible material protecting the foldable screen. Current foldable phones on the market aren't thin, light or energy-efficient enough to meet Apple's standards, which is why Apple has been slower to enter this segment, said Jeff Pu, an analyst with Hong Kong-based brokerage Haitong International Securities.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son will announce a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years during a Monday visit to President-elect Donald Trump's residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC's Sara Eisen. The billionaire investor and founder of the Japanese tech-investing firm will also promise in the joint announcement with Trump to create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, the sources said. The money will be deployed before the end of Trump's term. The funding could come from various sources controlled by Softbank, including the Vision Fund, capital projects or chipmaker Arm Holdings, where the firm is majority owner.

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