Asus fixes updating software backdoor; Facebook bans white separatists; Twitter releases new dark mode for iOS.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Friday, March 29th, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
In Tuesday’s episode of Hashtag trending, we talked about hackers using Asus’ Live Update tool to distribute hardware. According to the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Labs, the malware, called ShadowHammer, has been distributed to 1 million machines and contained specific instructions for 600 devices. Asus has since then patched its Live Update tool and has released a vulnerability checker for antsy users. It also urges anyone who’s been affected to contact Asus support immediately.
Trending on Google, Facebook has banned white separatists groups on Facebook and Instagram, citing that after research with race relation experts, they can not be effectively distinguished from white supremacists. While Facebook continues to allow people to express their ethnic pride, it will no longer tolerate support for white separatism. In a stern blog post, Facebook also wants to improve its ability to find and remove hate speech. It’s even looking to provide people associated with hate groups resources to help them understand the benefits of social harmony.
If you frequent the Twitter app on your iPhone, then you should be glad to hear that Twitter has released an all-black Lights Out mode for iOS users. The purpose of adding a pure black background is to maximize battery saving by turning off organic LED’s backlight, which is the primary source of power consumption in smartphones. In addition, Twitter hopes to reduce eyestrain when you’re catching up to the latest celebrity gossip in the dark.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Tom Li, thanks for listening.