Uber to require mask selfies for riders who haven’t been covering up
Uber drivers have long had to take a selfie to show they’re wearing a mask before accepting rides. Now the same scanning software will be used on passengers. By the end of September in the U.S. and Canada, Uber passengers that have been flagged for not wearing a mask will have to scan their face through the app before they can request another ride. The scanning tech will come to Latin America and other countries after the North America rollout, Uber announced Tuesday. Uber enforced the mask policy for both drivers and riders back in May. All drivers and delivery workers have to take a mask selfie before working. Since May, 3.5 million drivers for Uber and Uber Eats have scanned more than 100 million mask verifications.
Education in a Pandemic: Protect Your Kids from Virtual Back-to-school Threats
July and August means back-to-school for many, with millions of children gearing up to return to the classroom. However, this year, back-to-school will be different, with many children attending school remotely from their homes because of the pandemic. As of August 18, 20 of the 25 largest school districts in the US are choosing remote learning as their only instructional model, affecting over 4.3 million students, reports Education Weekly. This has led to parents asking some key questions: how do I keep my children safe as they learn remotely? How do I protect my children from hackers and cyberbullies? Are the technologies that enable remote learning actually safe for my children to use?
CISA and FBI say they have not seen cyber-attacks this year on voter registration databases
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said today that they have not seen any cyber-attacks target US voter registration databases and voting systems this year. The two agencies issued a joint statement today after an article in Russian media had gone viral earlier this morning. The article, published by Russian news agency Kommersant, claimed that a Russian hacker had obtained voter records for more than 7.6 million Michigan voters following an intrusion into the state’s database earlier this year, in March. According to Kommersant, the hacker also claimed to be in possession of voter records for Connecticut, Arkansas, Florida, and North Carolina voters, but in smaller numbers, and was making all the databases available for free on a hacking forum since July.
Twitter Hack May Have Had Another Mastermind: A 16-Year-Old
When authorities arrested Graham Ivan Clark, who they said was the “mastermind” of the recent Twitter hack that ensnared Kanye West, Bill Gates and others, one detail that stood out was his age: He was only 17. Now authorities have homed in on another person who appears to have played an equal, if not more significant, role in the July 15 attack, according to four people involved in the investigation who declined to be identified because the inquiry was ongoing. They said the person was at least partly responsible for planning the breach and carrying out some of its most sensitive and complicated elements. His age? Just 16, public records show. On Tuesday, federal agents served the teenager with a search warrant and scoured the Massachusetts home where he lives with his parents, said one of the people involved in the operation. A spokesman for the F.B.I. confirmed a search warrant had been executed at the address.
Facebook & Twitter Remove Russian Accounts Spreading Disinformation
Facebook and Twitter have removed social media accounts linked to the Russia-backed Internet Research Agency (IRA), which has returned with new efforts to sway Americans in the 2020 presidential election using a fraudulent news website and several fake social media profiles. The IRA is a Russian organization known for its massive operation to influence the results of the 2016 election with disinformation tactics. Researchers with Graphika who analyzed its latest activity say it’s using new methods to achieve a familiar goal: to persuade voters away from the campaign of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, similar to its efforts against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
