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The maker of popular tax software platform TurboTax is facing a major legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over claims it misled customers.

Parent company Intuit is facing an FTC lawsuit over false advertising concerning its "free" platform, which the body claims has become less available in recent years.

If ruled against the company, the suit could allow millions of "free" TurboTax users to claim for losses or damages.

'Free' TurboTax

The FTC claims that Intuit is running a "bait-and-switch" operation for free TurboTax users, luring them in with the promise of a free service. However, after the user has gone through the lengthy process of entering all their personal information into the platform, TurboTax then demands a fee to file the return.

The FTC says that many users affected in this way simply pay the fee to get the process finished, with two-thirds of users who filed with TurboTax in 2020 were ineligible for the platform's free tier.

The suit follows several months of wrangling between the FTC and Intuit, and comes shortly after the company agreed to pay out $141 million to settle a separate lawsuit brought by several US states over exactly the same accusation.

Intuit had said that the settlement of this case, "affords the public all of the material relief the FTC seeks to obtain through this action," but the FTC continued to press its case, ruling that "the public interest warrants further litigation."

Read More

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The FTC filed its case against Intuit back in March 2022, noting that, "the commission is asking a federal court to put an immediate halt to Intuit advertising and has also authorized the filing of an administrative complaint alleging that the company's practices are illegal."

A preliminary date of March 27, 2023 has now be set for a hearing - just a few days ahead of the traditional April 15 deadline for US citizens to file individual income tax returns, one of the busiest times for TurboTax users (although the upcoming 2023 deadline will be Tuesday April 18).

• Also check out our roundup of the best accounting software for small business

Via The Register

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Latest Gadgets News

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal toldsaid to have addressed employees at an internal meeting on Wednesday to state that accusations by former employee and whistleblower Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko were inaccurate, as per a report. The company is also reportedly said to have defended its spam and bot account enumeration to the US SEC earlier this year.

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Latest Tech News

Cybercriminals are increasingly turning towards legitimate Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to launch, distribute, and advertise their campaigns, security researchers have reported.

Unit 42, the cybersecurity arm of Palo Alto Networks, has published a report which  found the abuse of such services soared by 1,100% in a span of a year between June 2021 and 2022. 

All kinds of services are being abused: file sharing sites, hosting tools, form and survey builders, website design sites, and collaboration tools, to name a few. Website builders, collaboration platforms, and form builders were also said to have experienced the highest uptick in abuse in the last year. 

Saving time and money

Unit 42 says the rising popularity of these tools among crooks can be attributed, first and foremost, to the fact that they are legitimate, and as such, often pass through various fraud and scam filters, including email security solutions. 

But it can also be attributed to the fact that they’re super easy and convenient to use, and allow for the quick upscaling and downscaling of campaigns. 

What’s more, should law enforcement agencies take down a phishing page, for example, the crooks can simply change the link and have it point elsewhere, while avoiding the gruntwork of having to design the page from scratch. That being said, the tools are built with newbies in mind, which eliminates the need to know how to code, or be well-versed in website, or form, design. 

Read more

> LinkedIn is still the most popular phishing lure around

> This Microsoft phishing campaign can hack you, even if you have MFA

> These are the best paid and free tools for work sharing and communication

Palo Alto Networks isn’t the only company warning about the abuse of legitimate SaaS solutions, either. As reported by BleepingComputer, Cyren has been warning about the “rampant abuse” of typeform.com since mid-2021, while Trend Micro warned of 123formbuilder.com, formtools.com, as well as smartsurvey.co.uk. Cofense was warning about the abuse of canva.com, as well.

Stopping the abuse of these services, the publication says, will be relatively challenging, as implementing “aggressive email filters” can do more harm than good.

• These are the best endpoint protection services right now

Via: BleepingComputer

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Fresh gameplay of upcoming sci-fi survival horror game The Callisto Protocol has dropped.

Revealed during Gamescom 2022, the new snippet gives us another glimpse of The Callisto Protocol’s gory third-person shooting, as well as our first look at a new enemy type. Introduced by director and Dead Space alum Glen Schofield, the gameplay shows off a tentacled monster capable of transforming into a deadlier version of itself. You'll need to shoot off its tendrils to stop it from mutating.

In the gameplay segment, the game's protagonist is shown wandering an abandoned prison infested with aliens before encountering the mutating monster. Fortunately for them, they have a Grip – a handheld accessory that can be used to pick up and throw enemies and objects, a bit like Half-Life 2’s gravity gun. 

In the gameplay demo, the player uses the Grip to pick up several objects from a distance, as well as hurl enemies into deadly environmental traps and obstacles. Watch it below:

The second half of the clip shows a linear set piece, in which the protagonist slides down what looks like a sewage pipe, dodging obstacles and spiked blades. Much like the first Callisto Protocol gameplay reveal, it ends rather gruesomely, with the character caught in a turbine that snaps him in two.

It certainly looks like developer Striking Distance Studios is playing up the gore factor.

• Dead Island 2 is officially back from the dead – and it looks spectacularly brutal

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Latest Gadgets News

The standard iPhone 14 has been reportedly spotted on the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification site. The listed Apple smartphone bears the model number A2882.

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It's finally happening: Sony is releasing a pro PS5 controller. 

Announced during Gamescom 2022's Opening Night Live showcase, with more information shared in a PlayStation Blog post afterward, the DualSense Edge Wireless controller is "the first-ever high-performance, ultra-customizable" gamepad developed by Sony.

The DualSense Edge features both hardware and software-based customization options, including interchangeable thumbsticks reminiscent of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. In addition, this new PS5 controller allows you to add your own custom controller profiles which can be customized to your play style. Check it out below:

A release date and pricing is yet to be confirmed.

• Check out release dates for upcoming games

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The Arena series is SteelSeries’ new line of gaming speakers, desktop PC-focused speakers offering premium features with the most expensive models.

According to The Verge, there are three models in total: Arena 3, Arena 7, and Arena 9, the latter of which is easily one of the best computer speakers on the market right now. 

The Arena 3 is the no-frills option with four-inch drivers for PCs, Macs, and other compatible devices. The Arena 7 takes that base model and adds programmable RGB lighting, subwoofers, and PlayStation compatibility. 

The Arena 9 model upgrades to a 5.1 surround sound thanks to the added center wedge speaker, two wireless wall-mountable rear channels, and a small desktop control pad with an OLED display that you can plug into the subwoofers.

The Arena 3 costs $129.99, the Arena 7 is priced at a mid-range $299.99, and the high-end Arena 9 will cost you whopping $549.99. There’s also a $99 ear-mounted 2.4GHz wireless microphone released along with the speakers, which charges via USB Type-C.

SteelSeries serving an underserved market 

Though most gaming products see yearly releases for nearly any brand in the market, dedicated gaming speakers seem to have very little in the way of variety, with many gamers forced to rely on non-gaming speakers for that sweet surround sound setup.

That’s what makes SteelSeries’ Arena series such a great product. Not only is it from a trusted brand that churns out some of the best gaming mice, best PC gaming headsets, and best gaming keyboards around, but that it targets such an underserved market and does so at the three major price points is a great thing for customers.

And, judging by our glowing review of the Arena 9 model, these are excellent speakers that are sure to enhance your gaming experience.

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A new version of free office software suite LibreOffice has been released, bringing with it extended compatibility with Microsoft Office file types.

In a blog post announcing the update, the maker of the open source software bundle explained why it has been so difficult historically to build in Office compatibility.

"Microsoft files are still based on the proprietary format deprecated by ISO in 2008, and not on the ISO approved standard, so they hide a large amount of artificial complexity," the blog post states. "This causes handling issues with LibreOffice, which defaults to a true open standard format (the OpenDocument Format)."

Given the popularity of Office, and the sheer number of documents in circulation, LibreOffice needs to deliver comprehensive compatibility in order to attract users away from Microsoft. The team says users can expect multiple updates in quick succession, with this goal in mind.

Multiple changes

For those who aren't in the know, LibreOffice is a suite of office software designed to cover all the same bases as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. In the words of our reviewer, LibreOffice provides "a competing suite of office software that’s just as exceptional, versatile, and feature-rich at no cost to its users".

With the cost of living on the rise, the open source suite could be an excellent option for anyone looking to save on the cost of a subscription, particularly with the arrival of enhanced Office compatibility.

Read more

> Google backs calls for tighter open source security

> Our list of the best project management software around

> Microsoft reverses ban on open source software sales

According to the blog post, users should check for new releases of LibreOffice on a regular basis, as the compatibility upgrades are coming so thick and fast that "each new version improves dramatically over the previous one".

Albeit arguably the biggest one, this is not the only change in LibreOffice 7.4. In fact, there are quite a few improvements in the latest version of the productivity suite, including the spreadsheet app, Calc, now supporting 16,374 columns, and the entire suite now getting support for dark mode in both Windows 10 and 11. 

When it comes to performance, the team has also made improvements for cases like PDF export, document loading, and more.

• Check out our list of the best online collaboration tools right now

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Kirby's New Nintendo Switch Game Is a Sweet Multiplayer Treat - CNET

The newly launched Kirby's Dream Buffet is a joyous party game, but offers little for solo players.

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A security vulnerability in a series of bitcoin ATM machines allowed cybercriminals to steal valuable tokens from users, it has been revealed.

In an announcement, General Bytes, the maker of the ATMs in question, said that unknown threat actors discovered a zero-day vulnerability in the devices and used it to siphon cryptocurrencies from user accounts.

As the company explained, these ATMs are controlled by a remote Crypto Application Server (CAS), and whoever was behind the theft found a hole in the CAS. 

"The attacker was able to create an admin user remotely via CAS administrative interface via a URL call on the page that is used for the default installation on the server and creating the first administration user," General Bytes said. "This vulnerability has been present in CAS software since version 20201208."

Diverting the coins

After that, whenever someone tried to deposit or withdraw cryptocurrency using the ATM, the funds would simply be diverted to a wallet belonging to the hackers.

"Two-way ATMs started to forward coins to the attacker's wallet when customers sent coins to ATM," the company further explained.

The company was tipped off by a user whose funds had been stolen. It is unclear how many people were affected by the flaw, or how much in cryptocurrencies the thieves managed to steal. 

Read more

> Australia gets its first Bitcoin ATM

> 

> Bitcoin cash machine pops up in Tech City, offering digital dough for banknotes

Since then, though, a patch has been released. The company has updated the CAS to versions 20220531.38 and 20220725.22 and urged ATM service providers to pull the devices out until they apply the patch. Most of the unpatched devices, roughly two dozen of them, are located in Canada, it was said.

Furthermore, as BleepingComputer reported, the attack would not have been possible in the first place, had the servers been firewalled to only allow trusted IP addresses to establish a connection.

• Shield against threat actors with the best identity theft protection services

Via BleepingComputer

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New Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Trailer Revealed During Pokemon World Championships - CNET

Here's a closer look at competitive battling in the upcoming Pokemon games.

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Woot's Audio Sale Knocks Hundreds Off Top-Rated Headphones, Speakers and More - CNET

This is a chance to save big on some of our favorite pieces of audio gear on the market right now.

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