Month: May 2025

Generative KI hält Einzug in die Unternehmens-IT. Dieser eintägige Online-Workshop vermittelt die notwendigen Kenntnisse, um Copilot erfolgreich zu lizenzieren, zu konfigurieren und in bestehende Umgebungen zu integrieren. (Golem Karrierewelt, KI)

A jury has awarded WhatsApp $167 million in punitive damages in a case the company brought against Israel-based NSO Group for exploiting a software vulnerability that hijacked the phones of thousands of users.

The verdict, reached Tuesday, comes as a major victory not just for Meta-owned WhatsApp but also for privacy- and security-rights advocates who have long criticized the practices of NSO and other exploit sellers. The jury also awarded WhatsApp $444 million in compensatory damages.

Clickless exploit

WhatsApp sued NSO in 2019 for an attack that targeted roughly 1,400 mobile phones belonging to attorneys, journalists, human-rights activists, political dissidents, diplomats, and senior foreign government officials. NSO, which works on behalf of governments and law enforcement authorities in various countries, exploited a critical WhatsApp vulnerability that allowed it to install NSO’s proprietary spyware Pegasus on iOS and Android devices. The clickless exploit worked by placing a call to a target's app. A target did not have to answer the call to be infected.

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Der vermeintlich ausfallsichere und hochverfügbare digitale Behördenfunk ist bundesweit stundenlang ausgefallen. Bislang ist die Ursache nicht öffentlich bekannt. (Infrastruktur, Mobilfunk)

Der vermeintlich ausfallsichere und hochverfügbare digitale Behördenfunk ist bundesweit stundenlang ausgefallen. Bislang ist die Ursache nicht öffentlich bekannt. (Infrastruktur, Mobilfunk)

Two decades after first showing that it’s possible to use computers for real-time voice and video communication using peer-to-peer networking, Skype shut down for good this week. Microsoft bought the service in 2011 and maintained it for a while, eventually moving it from a hybrid P2P service to one that was powered by the company’s […]

The post Lilbits: Goodbye Skype, hello Fedora in Windows (and new Copilot+ features) appeared first on Liliputing.

Stratolaunch has finally found a use for the world's largest airplane.

Twice in the last five months, the company launched a hypersonic vehicle over the Pacific Ocean, accelerated it to more than five times the speed of sound, and autonomously landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Stratolaunch used the same vehicle for both flights.

This is the first time anyone in the United States has flown a reusable hypersonic rocket plane since the last flight of the X-15, the iconic rocket-powered aircraft that pushed the envelope of high-altitude, high-speed flight 60 years ago.

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President Donald Trump is demanding the release of Tina Peters, a former election official who parroted Trump's 2020 election conspiracy theories and is serving nine years in prison for compromising the security of election equipment.

In a post on Truth Social last night, Trump wrote that "Radical Left Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser ignores Illegals committing Violent Crimes like Rape and Murder in his State and, instead, jailed Tina Peters, a 69-year-old Gold Star mother who worked to expose and document Democrat Election Fraud. Tina is an innocent Political Prisoner being horribly and unjustly punished in the form of Cruel and Unusual Punishment."

Trump said he is "directing the Department of Justice to take all necessary action to help secure the release of this 'hostage' being held in a Colorado prison by the Democrats, for political reasons."

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Oncologist Vinay Prasad, a divisive critic of COVID-19 responses, will be the next top vaccine regulator at the Food and Drug Administration, agency Commissioner Martin Makary announced on social media Tuesday.

Prasad will head the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), which is in charge of approving and regulating vaccines and other biologics products, such as gene therapies and blood products.

"Dr. Prasad brings the kind of scientific rigor, independence, and transparency we need at CBER—a significant step forward," Makary wrote on social media.

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Amazon is running sales on select Kindle eReaders and Fire devices ahead of Mother’s Day. Barnes & Noble is marking down all of its NOOK-branded eReaders by $20. And eBay is offering 15% off on thousands of products at the moment. But if you really want to save some money while letting your mom know […]

The post Daily Deals (5-06-2025) appeared first on Liliputing.

Although we are still waiting for SpaceX to signal when it will fly the Starship rocket again, the company got some good news from the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday.

After a lengthy review, the federal agency agreed to allow SpaceX to substantially increase the number of annual launches from its Starbase launch site in South Texas. Previously, the company was limited to five launches, but now it will be able to conduct up to 25 Starship launches and landings during a calendar year.

"The FAA has determined that modifying SpaceX’s vehicle operator license supporting the increased launch and landing cadence of the Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment," states the document, known as a Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact. This finding was signed by Daniel P. Murray, executive director of the FAA's Office of Operational Safety.

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