Twitter is shitcanning Fleets - you know, its attempt to rip off Stories from Instagram, which Instagram ripped off of Snapchat. Twitter said in a blog post that "we haven't seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped. Because of this, on August 3, Fleets will no longer be available on Twitter". Tweets are nothing, they're shitposts of brainfarts throughout a day. I delete mine regularly. Fleets kinda had no point. The website never even got Fleets, they were app only. Oh well, they had a shot and that's the main thing. Better luck next time little blue bird.
Google and Microsoft reckon the same group of Russian state hackers that did the SolarWinds hack have also been exploiting an iOS zero-day. For those unfamiliar with the term, a zero day is a vulnerability that there's no patch for, so even if you have a fully updated iOS device you're still at risk of getting owned. This zero day was used against USAID by sending messages to officials over LinkedIn that contained a URL that "installed malicious payloads on fully updated iPhones" that took advantage of a bug in WebKit (CVE-2021-1879). From there the hackers were able to access USAID's Constant Contact account and send legit marketing emails to USAID's list with malicious domains in it that infected others.
Microsoft has shown off Windows 365 - basically their take on something like Citrix for virtual PCs in the cloud. You can spin up a Windows PC and stream it to a web browser, with various hardware configs ("single CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage at the low-end, all the way up to eight CPUs, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage"). The main benefit would be for businesses wanting to roll out access to apps for remote workers without having to ship them computers and set up VPNs and shit like that. Just tell them to visit a website, login and away they go. Decent internet connection required of course. Pricing isn't out yet, but Windows 365 launches August 2nd.
Joseph Cox at Vice got his hands on one of those ANOM snitch smartphones the FBI, AFP and other law enforcement agencies sold to criminals. It's a Google Pixel 4a running a custom ROM (ArcaneOS) that at first looks normal, but when you open the calculator you're able to access the ANOM chat network that the FBI was listening in on. Apparently the person that got this phone and passed it on to the media was simply buying a used Pixel 4a and got a surprise when they opened the calculator. Other interesting bits on this phone is a shortcut at the top of the screen to wipe the phone and "PIN scrambling" to stop shoulder surfers from learning your PIN.
📻 Transdermal Celebration - Ween
😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.
💬 Did you know that The Sizzle has a Slack group? Join in and chat with other subscribers like you.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info? Visit the customer portal.
The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.