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AdFection spyware, Florida kids law, Ledger Atom · Newslit Daily

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's Thursday,
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: October 15th,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: and you are listening to Newslit Daily,
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: expertly curated news bits on what is happening around us
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: to supercharge your mornings.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: In today's edition,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: researchers at Citizen Lab have documented what they call adfection,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: the first known case of zero-click spyware delivered through targeted online ads.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: An Israeli company called Discover Tech ran an ad platform that collected
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: a person's ad identifier and IP address.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: If that person was selected as a target,
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: their device received malicious code that exploited it and installed the spyware.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: The ads themselves carried no exploit code, which helped them stay hidden from ad platforms.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Citizen Lab says devices at Al Jazeera were infected with spyware made by a firm called Kendiru.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Google and Beeswax have cut off Discover Tech,
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: and the trade group IAB Europe removed it from its vendor list,
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: but researchers say industry self-regulation failed to catch it.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: A federal appeals court has cleared the way for Florida
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: to enforce its law restricting children on social media.
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  SPEAKER_00: The law bars children under 14 from holding accounts on platforms
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  SPEAKER_00: with addictive features like infinite scrolling and autoplay,
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: and requires parental consent for 14 and 15-year-olds.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Judge Kevin Newsom wrote that the law touches the First Amendment
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: but is likely constitutional because it is content neutral,
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  SPEAKER_00: and he described it as a conditional ban on addictive features rather than
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: on access.
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  SPEAKER_00: The tech groups challenging it,
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  SPEAKER_00: CCIA and NetChoice,
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  SPEAKER_00: say it hands the government too much power over how people get information.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: NetChoice says it is evaluating all of its options.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Crypto security company Ledger has unveiled the Atom,
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: a device that looks like an Android phone but is meant to sit beside your real one.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: It switches between a standard mode for everyday apps and a secure mode
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: for signing transactions,
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  SPEAKER_00: and a physical switch cuts power to the cameras and microphone.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: It costs $849 for a limited Founders Edition, then $899, and is expected to ship in summer 2027.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: The launch comes as Ledger investigates tampered wallets sold through a reseller
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: in Southeast Asia, where an implant could capture recovery phrases.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: On-chain researchers link more than $86 million in suspected losses,
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: though Ledger has not confirmed that number.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: The CEO of Flock,
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: the company behind license plate cameras used by police departments,
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  SPEAKER_00: defended its technology on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Garrett Langley said that if society wants higher odds of accountability for crime,
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: we shouldn't pause progress.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Flock has faced growing criticism that has led to canceled contracts and layoffs.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Langley blamed some cancellations on misinformation,
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: such as a customer who believed Flock cameras use facial recognition,
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: which they do not, although they can detect and track people.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: He also said Flock is far from perfect,
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: but argued that it helps departments do more with fewer officers.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: When pressed on abuse, he offered few specifics.
• 3:20
  [music]
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Before we go, a quick look at what's happening in AI.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Eight states have sued OpenAI in their own courts,
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: alleging ChatGPT was marketed as safe for kids while it encouraged self-harm
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: and violence.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: OpenAI says it has added safeguards for younger users.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: In Apple's Trade Secrets case against OpenAI,
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: a judge heard arguments yesterday on Apple's request for an injunction
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: in OpenAI's bid to dismiss, with no ruling yet.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Bank of America says it hired 1,000 contractors to patch software flaws found
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: by Anthropik's Mythos model,
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: and its CEO put related remediation costs,
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: together with anti-money laundering cleanup,
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: at a couple hundred million dollars or more.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Anthropik has told investors its quarterly revenue rose nearly 50%
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: to $16.8 billion ahead of its planned IPO.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: A new conversation between podcaster Dwarkesh Patel
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: and economist Tyler Cowen Asks what the Frontier AI labs know that the rest
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: of us don't.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for today.