The hacking of a US gas pipeline is proof that cybercrime is now a major industry – with its own trading markets and even CSROn Friday 7 May, Colonial, the quaintly named operator of the pipeline that brings 45% of the US east coast’s gasoline and jet fuel from Texas to New York, announced that it had been hacked. My initial assumption was that this was Russian retaliation for the Biden administration’s punitive cyber-attacks on Russia in response to the SolarWinds hack. After all, if a pipeline like this isn’t “critical infrastructure”, what is? If so, were we not witnessing a significant escalation in information warfare between two nuclear-armed powers?Fortunately, my overheated imagination turned out to be wrong, but the reality – in a way – is almost as interesting. On 10 May, the FBI announced that the attack on Colonial was caused by an outfit called DarkSide, which specialises in ransomware, and that the bureau had forced the company to halt its pipeline’s operations so that it could carry out a full investigation into the breach. Continue reading...

Demand and prices are soaring for minerals essential to the construction of low-carbon infrastructureThe commodities boom ignited by China’s post-Covid recovery, and stoked by the global move to green energy, broke price records last week even as fears about inflation stalked the markets. But it also risks triggering a rush on metals and minerals that could derail climate action.Iron ore reached the apex of a super-rally that drove prices to $237.57 a tonne in New York on Wednesday. The record followed a surge in demand from China’s steel-making regions, now recovering after the pandemic, which has pushed prices up from less than $94 this time last year. Continue reading...

The comments aren’t just transactional – they can reveal more about how we connect than the curated feeds of social mediaHuman connection can often be found where you least expect it. Google Maps, started as a straightforward navigation tool, has become in recent years an unlikely treasure trove of humour and intrigue. With many businesses in my area closed for much of the pandemic, I took to exploring them through the reviews that others had left online. I have traversed foreign cities from my sofa, idly dreaming of future holidays via a one-line description of the perfect snack bar.From reviews of a local bistro to the dry cleaner, I have stumbled on snatches of city life that seem as compelling as any sitcom. Entire sagas are played out in a few sentences, and I have read elaborate tales of love, fights, breakups and makeups. “The owners created a drama around them, and chose us to express all their violence,” begins one particularly ominous review of a bar, which ends with: “We spent the night in hospital and my friend had to get surgery to fix his nose.” Continue reading...

What are the changes, why are they controversial, and how are they linked to Facebook?

Controversial changes aim to allow small firms to upload catalogues and let users buy without leaving the app

Value of bookings for San Francisco-based firm up 52% year on year to $10.3bn in first quarter

With comedy venues reopening in England and Scotland, Sarah Henley discusses the effect of the pandemic, online audiences and being a woman in male-dominated sectorsTelling jokes to live audiences over Zoom has offered an alternative for standup comics since comedy clubs shut last year.It has also presented them with a new set of occupational hazards, as the comedian Andrew Maxwell discovered during an online gig where he got momentarily upstaged by an audience member’s cat showing its bum to the webcam. Continue reading...

Ofcom and big tech will be told to do more, but do we want them to decide who’s allowed to say whatConsequences matter. If there was one clear message from football’s temporary boycott of social media earlier this month, in protest at the torrent of online hate experienced disproportionately by black players, that was it.The former England striker Ian Wright has said that he’d almost given up reporting the vile stuff he receives daily because nothing ever seemed to happen to the perpetrators. “It makes you feel very dehumanised. You feel like there’s nothing you can do, you’re helpless,” he said. So two cheers, at least, for the inclusion in this week’s Queen’s speech of a long-delayed online safety bill aimed at holding big tech more accountable. Who wouldn’t agree with the culture secretary Oliver Dowden’s desire to rid social media of what he called “the bile and the threats”? Continue reading...

Here Comes the Break melds a fictional story with interviews and new music. Plus: illuminating fashion industry conversations, and witty fun with Mike WozniakHere Comes the Break

Demi Skipper wants to own her first home, but she’s not buying one. Instead she’s planning a strategy of individual trades. The 29-year-old is already the owner of one of only a few Chipotle celebrity cards in the world, and is hoping to reach a house by the end of summer. Here's a record of her progress so far

Analysis: Ofcom remains gatekeeper of big social networks, but moderators face multiple conundrums with the legislationModeration of online content is difficult. Social networks want to take down content that breaks their rules. They have to do it quickly enough that they do not get shouted at for leaving bad things up, but they have to do it accurately so that they do not get shouted at for taking the wrong things down.In 2019 the UK government announced a plan to fix things. The intention of the online harms white paper was to apply pressure to social networks, to shift that dilemma. If social networks had rules against content that they did not enforce, they would get into legal trouble. Continue reading...

PlayStation 5; Housemarque/Sony

2017 European Commission decision that ordered US firm to pay back-taxes to Luxembourg overturnedAmazon has won a court battle against the EU over allegations that the US technology company received €250m in “illegal state aid” tax benefits from Luxembourg.The ruling from Europe’s general court is the latest blow to the EU’s fight against “sweetheart deals” that allegedly allow big multinational tech companies to avoid hundreds of millions of euros in tax in other member states. Continue reading...

Demi Skipper would like a new house, but she’s not buying one. Instead she’s planning a daring strategy of trades – and millions are following her journeyWhile many of us were still finding novelty in group Zoom calls last May, Demi Skipper decided she was going to get a house. But not using money. Instead, she was going to trade items.Now the owner of one of only a few Chipotle celebrity cards in the world, and hoping to reach a house by the end of summer, the 29-year-old’s journey started where many voyages do: in a YouTube hole. Continue reading...

It seems rogue sellers have used it to generate fake reviewsI received a parcel from Amazon, a website I haven’t used for years. Several emails confirmed an order of three items, announced two-step verification on my account and warned a sign-in from an iPhone in Illinois had been detected.The next day an email thanked me for joining Amazon Prime. Since then I have had other emails showing semi-literate five-star reviews of the products. My bank confirmed no money has been debited. But you can’t contact Amazon without an account, and I can no longer access mine. I’ve now received emails telling me I’ve ordered a catflap but my payment has been declined.

Fuel shortages are largely a result of unnecessary panic-buying, analysts sayThe US energy secretary has urged Americans against “hoarding gasoline” amid shortages and long lines after hackers shut down a major pipeline.More than 1,000 gas stations in the US south and east coast have reported running out of fuel, primarily because of what analysts say is unwarranted panic-buying among drivers. Continue reading...

Complex cases involve perpetrators using multiple accounts and devices to abuse, control and monitor partners

‘We must rethink our approach,’ acting chief of the agency charged with protecting federal networks said in Senate testimonyThe US must “rethink our approach to cybersecurity”, the acting chief of the agency charged with protecting federal networks told senators on Tuesday, as fallout from the Colonial pipeline ransomware attack saw panic-buying begin at some gas stations while the energy industry moved to shore up systems of supply.Related: Biden says ‘no evidence’ Russia involved in US pipeline hack but Putin should act Continue reading...

Facebook has been busy developing a child-friendly social media platform. But why are US lawmakers so unhappy?

PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC, Mac; Unknown Worlds

Messaging app will begin to turn off features until users agree to Facebook’s updated terms of serviceIf you have not agreed to WhatsApp’s controversial new terms of service by 15 May, the app will begin to turn off features until you do, Facebook announced in an update to its FAQ page.At that point, the screen asking users to accept the terms of service set by Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company, will become permanent, with users needing to click through to directly use WhatsApp at all. Users will still be able to interact with the app in other ways for “a few weeks”, however, such as receiving calls, replying to messages, or responding to missed calls. Continue reading...

Brad Stone writes that voice for Amazon’s virtual assistant, which the company has never revealed, is Colorado-based Nina RolleThe voice of Alexa, the virtual assistant developed by Amazon, is provided by Nina Rolle, a Colorado-based voiceover artist, according to a new book.Amazon has never revealed who provides the default female voice that responds to commands and questions given to Alexa, but the author Brad Stone said he identified the voice as Rolle’s after “canvasing the professional voiceover community” for his new book, Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire. Continue reading...

The lack of a union at the elite level of mixed martial arts means fighters will very likely miss out on a digital gold rushIn the last year, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – effectively one-of-a-kind digital collectibles – have boomed in areas as varied as adult entertainment and the arts. Even sports leagues have started to take advantage of the NFT explosion.So it makes sense that the UFC, a body that has never been slow to sniff out a quick profit, reportedly filed several new trademark applications indicating plans to launch a UFC-branded cryptocurrency, as well as an app for users to manage NFTs and other digital assets. Continue reading...

Almost 20 million users could be eligible for compensation, with £1.5bn damages soughtApple is facing a demand for billions of pounds of consumer compensation in a British lawsuit that accuses the company of overcharging users by up to 30% on its App Store.The claim argues that Apple’s restrictive policies, which limit app developers to using its own payment systems, are generating “excessive” profits for the company and leading to consumers paying more than they otherwise would. As a collective action, it seeks to represent the almost 20 million people in the UK who have spent money on the App Store, and seeks damages of up to £1.5bn. Continue reading...

Wife of world’s fourth-richest man explored options almost two years ago, roughly at time sex criminal Epstein died in jailMelinda French Gates had concerns about her husband’s dealings with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when she consulted lawyers to explore the option of divorcing the Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, according to reports.The billionaire philanthropists announced their decision to divorce last week after declaring their marriage “irretrievably broken” – but did not explain why. Continue reading...

Most of us have phones, computers and boxes full to bursting with our snaps – and will probably only ever look at a fraction of them. So how do you work out what to keep?If you’re anything like me, then your phone is full to bursting with unsorted photographs. If I were to die tomorrow, and my loved ones used my photo roll to better understand me, they’d be confronted by several shots of exactly the same thing, a bunch of blurred documents and a dozen or so Kathryn Hahn screengrabs. That’s no legacy to leave. We could all do with a photographic tidy-up – whether it be digital snaps on phones and computers or physical prints piled up in storage – but how? Continue reading...

Ifeoma Ozoma has co-sponsored a bill to protect workers who speak out on discrimination or harassment. ‘Coming forward should not carry as much risk,’ she saidFor months, Ifeoma Ozoma couldn’t tell anyone – not even her closest friends and family – why she had left her high-profile job at Pinterest.Even as she gave speeches about her work at the tech company, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she signed forbade her to share the reason for quitting her role as a public policy manager, where she engaged with press, elected officials and health experts. Continue reading...

A UCL study has found people around the world feel the same about their devices as they do about their homesSmartphone users have become “human snails carrying our homes in our pockets”, with a tendency to ignore friends and family in favour of their device, according to a landmark study.A team of anthropologists from UCL spent more than a year documenting smartphone use in nine countries around the world, from Ireland to Cameroon, and found that far from being trivial toys, people felt the same way about their devices as they did about their homes. Continue reading...

Long battery life, comfortable fit, Bluetooth 5 with decent sound and features for the moneyThe latest Bluetooth headphones from Anker offer very long battery life and surprisingly effective noise-cancelling on a budget.The Soundcore Life Q35 cost £129.99 and replace the Life Q30 as the brand’s top headphones, significantly undercutting leading models from rivals that often cost in excess of £300. Continue reading...

Vaccine rollout used as a lure via email and text to harvest people’s personal information for fraud

While enjoying an idyllic lockdown in France, the 83-year-old artist has created perhaps his most important exhibition ever – offering hope to an injured world‘I think it looks terrific,” says David Hockney. “It’s all on one theme, isn’t it? And there’s not many exhibitions like that, really, a show all about the spring.” The 83-year-old artist is taking a look around his new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London for the first time. He seems happy with it – and rightly so, for it is hypnotic and ravishing. But while I am getting a sneak preview in person, Hockney is here only virtually, his face appearing on two screens, one a giant TV, the other a small laptop.He is at home, at what he calls his “seven dwarves house” in Normandy, wearing a red, black and white check jacket, a checkerboard tie, a blue-green pullover and round, gold-framed glasses. His kaleidoscopic choice of clothing, challenging the very limits of the video call’s bandwidth, is as vibrant and beguiling as the canvases hanging around us. Hockney has not just painted spring; he has come dressed as it. Continue reading...

Its algorithm suggests I am most interested in jewellery, luxury goods, electronic music, love and emotions. Nothing could be further from the truth

White House to allow more fuel to be carried by road, but prices not expected to rise unless Colonial Pipeline outage lasts more than three daysThe hackers who caused the vast Colonial Pipeline to shut down on Friday reportedly began their cyberattack against the top US fuel pipeline operator a day earlier and stole a large amount of data.The attackers are part of a cybercrime group called DarkSide and took nearly 100 gigabytes of data out of Colonial’s network in just two hours on Thursday, the Bloomberg news website reported late Saturday, citing two people involved in the company’s investigation. Continue reading...

Price falls by as much as a third after billionaire’s comments on US comedy sketch show Saturday Night LiveThe price of dogecoin tumbled by as much as a third on Sunday, after billionaire Elon Musk, one of its biggest supporters, appeared to call the virtual currency a “hustle” while hosting Saturday Night Live.Cryptocurrency watchers had high expectations of what Tesla chief executive and crypto-enthusiast Musk, who has called himself the “Dogefather”, would say while hosting the American comedy sketch show, and dogecoin had risen in anticipation. Continue reading...

Eib is now in its seventh season, fearlessly tackling subjects from Beirut’s drag queen scene to Jordanian widows’ rightsRude, fault or blemish; flaw, disgrace or shame. The word has many shades, but nearly every woman who grows up in Arabic-speaking households knows its singular weight. “Anything related to women is eib,” says Tala El-Issa, from her home in Cairo. “If they want to talk about their bodies, it’s eib, their problems – eib. Just being a woman is almost eib.”When the team at Sowt, an Arabic podcasting network based across the Middle East, wanted to create a show that charged fearlessly into the region’s taboos around sex and gender, the title was obvious. “Eib” is now in its seventh season, the company’s longest-lasting podcast and its most popular. Continue reading...

Video game popularity soared during the pandemic, as people sought distraction and ways to connect with loved onesHelping his seven-year-old daughter Romy set up the Nintendo Switch she got for Christmas, Paul Cliff managed to get himself hooked on Animal Crossing. “I’ve somehow played over 600 hours on it since January,” says Paul, 56, of the life simulation game where villagers carry out daily activities such as gardening, furniture arrangement and gathering fruits.“I love the collecting in it, it’s so gentle and oddly rewarding,” he says, recalling an afternoon spent fishing together when Romy finally caught the Stringfish she’d been trying to catch for ages. “She couldn’t wait to show me. We’ve been amazed at each other’s achievements and creativity,” Paul says. “I’ve found it an immersive and relaxing experience. I love my wee island, it’s a wonderful escape from what’s going on outside our four walls.” Continue reading...

Algorithm will identify tweets that may be ‘harmful or offensive’ and give option to edit, delete, or send anywayMany of us have dashed off a mean-spirited reply in the heat of the moment. Now, Twitter wants to appeal to the good inside even the most callous trolls in an attempt to improve the tone of its social network.From Thursday, the company will roll out a new prompt to users who are about to send a tweet that its algorithms believe could be “harmful or offensive”. Those who try to send such a message will be asked if they “want to review this before tweeting”, with the options to edit, delete, or send anyway. Continue reading...

Former editor Alan Rusbridger looks back on the dawning realisation that news was about to change forever

Delivery bookings rose 166% from the same period last year, leading to better-than-expected earnings despite flat ride bookingsUber’s thriving food delivery business, aided by a bump in home deliveries during lockdowns, helped the company counteract a slow quarter for ride-hailing bookings amid the pandemic.The company announced better-than-expected earnings in its first quarter of 2021, despite reporting its ride bookings were flat from the previous quarter and had decreased year over year. Continue reading...

Analysts say Elon Musk’s turn as host of Saturday Night Live will raise its profile yet furtherIt is perhaps the ultimate symbol of late capitalism: a digital currency that started as a joke, now worth more than the Ford motor company, BP or Tesco.Riding a wave of speculative interest despite Covid-19 triggering the worst global recession since the 1930s Great Depression, Dogecoin has been a huge hit with amateur investors. It is a cryptocurrency based on an internet meme – a humorous online phrase or photo, which on this occasion is a dog – and has shot to wider attention with a record-breaking rise in value in recent weeks. Continue reading...

So many hours spent on the internet, so many bizarre and incredible things for this Australian comedian to show youDo you remember a time when you weren’t on the internet? I sure don’t, or at least the special version they gave us at gifted school so we did not become Troubled.But sometimes I wonder if it’s healthy to scrape every organic second of my day and deposit it into my computer’s protein tray in exchange for my Mandatory Web Hours. I do my little media job on the internet. I write my little stupid fiction stories and my very funny and well regarded Tinyletter here. I know if my ancestors could see me they would hoot angrily on their bone-trumpets and fill my T-shirt with the semi-poison berries. Sometimes, I dream I’m tilling the land with my 10 identical sons and daughters – cultivating, I don’t know, silverbeet, who gives a shit – but the dream always falters when I get to the part where I must clean myself up for supper and realise I don’t know how to use a non-wifi tap. Continue reading...

Analysis: Ruling stopped short of making final decision, deepening questions over the oversight board’s effectiveness

The oversight board has ruled that the former president must remain suspended for now but also asserted its independenceThe US supreme court is defined by Marbury vs Madison, an 1803 case in which the court ruled that it had the power to strike down laws. It was a pivotal moment for the court, less than 15 years old – and one the oversight board clearly had in mind as it made its own pivotal ruling, turning a simple yes/no question about the US president into a firm demand for the independence of a nascent legal institution. Here are five takeaways from the weighty ruling.Related: Trump’s Facebook ban should not be lifted, network’s oversight board rules Continue reading...

Jet suit developer Gravity Industries has joined forces with the Royal Marines to test its latest product for maritime boarding operations. The company said it spent three days with 42 Commando Royal Marines off the south coast of the UK. The suit was tested in exercises between two moving vessels as an alternative to boarding via helicopter fast-roping Continue reading...

Pair say in statement ‘we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple’ but will continue to run foundation togetherBill and Melinda Gates have announced they are to divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying they “no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”.The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist and his wife have built up a combined $124bn (£89bn) fortune, making them among the five richest couples in the world. Continue reading...

Despite lockdown surge the firm’s Luxembourg unit made a €1.2bn loss and therefore paid zero corporation taxFresh questions have been raised over Amazon’s tax planning after its latest corporate filings in Luxembourg revealed that the company collected record sales income of €44bn (£38bn) in Europe last year but did not have to pay any corporation tax to the Grand Duchy.Accounts for Amazon EU Sarl, through which it sells products to hundreds of millions of households in the UK and across Europe, show that despite collecting record income, the Luxembourg unit made a €1.2bn loss and therefore paid no tax. Continue reading...

Startup joins forces with ride-hailing app to produce cars designed for use by Uber driversThe electric vehicle maker Arrival aims to start producing cars by 2023 with design help from Uber, in the latest step by the UK-headquartered startup’s ambitious plans to take on the automotive industry.The car, developed specifically for use by ride-hailing drivers, will be Arrival’s first, adding to buses that are due to be on UK roads this year, as well as urban delivery vans. Continue reading...

We look at the issues that led the two firms to pick a fight over content allowed on Apple’s App StoreApple and Epic Games will go head to head in court in front of a US federal judge on Monday, the latest stage in the Fortnite maker’s campaign to break open the iPhone’s walled garden.The feud has been growing since last August, when Epic set in motion a plan – known internally as “project liberty” – to try to get past the restrictions Apple places on software made for iPhones and iPads. Here is what brought the two companies to this point. Continue reading...