Chinese Communist Party-controlled Huawei Technologies Co. debuted its first in-house operating system for personal computers, offering an alternative to Microsoft’s shiteous Windows as China pushes to replace American technologies amid rising geopolitical tensions. Bloomberg News: ‎ The company’s HarmonyOS is now ready to run on the MateBook Fold, its latest foldable laptop, consumer chief Richard Yu said Monday. Huawei is working to make its operating system compatible with more than 2,000 apps, including the popular WeChat and QQ messaging platforms, he said… The company also introduced a traditional HarmonyOS-powered laptop for government and enterprise clients. The HarmonyOS has been Huawei’s answer to Alphabet Inc.’s Android operating system for smartphones, following the imposition of US restrictions in 2019… An array of…

The Lockdown Mode capability further hardens device defenses and strictly limits certain functionalities, sharply reducing the attack surface that could potentially be exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware. Apple notified multiple iPhone users this week, informing them they may have been targeted by government spyware, as reported by two of the alleged victims. Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai for TechCrunch: ‎ One is Ciro Pellegrino, an Italian journalist who works for online news outlet Fanpage. Pellegrino wrote in an article that he received an email and a text message from Apple on Tuesday notifying him that he was targeted with spyware. The message, according to Pellegrino, also said he wasn’t the only person targeted. “Today’s notification is being sent to affected users in…

Apple has requested that a court dismiss its three-year-old lawsuit against NSO Group, a spyware company. The tech giant argues that it may never be able to obtain crucial files about NSO’s Pegasus surveillance tool and that its own disclosures could potentially benefit NSO and its growing number of competitors. Joseph Menn for The Washinington Post: ‎ A redacted version of the filing in San Francisco federal court cited a July article in The Guardian, which reported that Israeli officials had taken files from NSO’s headquarters. The newspaper said the officials asked an Israeli court to keep the action secret even from those involved in an earlier, still-pending hacking suit against NSO filed by Meta’s WhatsApp. Israeli ministry of justice…

Mercenary spyware is being used to target specific iPhone users. But there are steps users can take to block it. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)

Apple security and privacy engineers thwarted Pegasus. It was just one of their successes this year. Fast Company’s Harry McCracken speaks with Apple engineers who are creating innovative ways to protect users from a wide array of threats. Harry McCracken for Fast Company: For years, Apple has made privacy and security one of the iPhone’s principal selling points. But a fraction of users—including dissidents, activists, and journalists—have reason to obsess over it. Governments and others with ill intent have targeted these groups with sophisticated spyware to gain access to messages, location data, and other information that can compromise not just privacy but their physical safety. “These are attackers who are willing to spend untold millions and millions and millions of…

Australia’s prime minister has echoed the advice of cybersecurity professionals, in recommending that you turn off your iPhone for five minutes every night. No, it’s not so you can reduce your daily Screen Time to 23 hours and 55 minutes, but to stop any spyware that may be running in the background on your device … more… The post Turn off your iPhone for five minutes – Australian PM echoes cybersecurity advice appeared first on 9to5Mac.