Iran hackers are trying hard to discover exactly what researchers and academia in the West are working on and discussing, especially about Palestine and Israel - so much so that they’ve launched a new, hard-to-detect phishing campaign against such individuals, aiming to install information-stealing malware.
This is according to Microsoft, whose security researchers recently sounded the alarm on the campaign.
As per the report, a subgroup of a known state-sponsored threat actor APT35 (AKA Charming Kitten, or Phosphorus) is engaged in phishing attacks against high-profile employees of research organizations and universities in Europe and the United States. The emails are custom-made and often make it past email security services.
Middle East in focus
"Since November 2023, Microsoft has observed a distinct subset of Mint Sandstorm (PHOSPHORUS) targeting high-profile individuals working on Middle Eastern affairs at universities and research organizations in Belgium, France, Gaza, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States," Microsoft said in the report. "In this campaign, Mint Sandstorm used bespoke phishing lures in an attempt to socially engineer targets into downloading malicious files. In a handful of cases, Microsoft observed new post-intrusion tradecraft including the use of a new, custom backdoor called MediaPl."
Besides MediaPI, which seems to be designed to open up an encrypted communications channel with the operators and the compromised endpoints, APT35 is also dropping MischiefTut, a backdoor allowing them to run commands and mount reconnaissance activity.
"These individuals, who work with or who have the potential to influence the intelligence and policy communities, are attractive targets for adversaries seeking to collect intelligence for the states that sponsor their activity, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran," Microsoft said. "Based on the identities of the targets observed in this campaign and the use of lures related to the Israel-Hamas war, it's possible this campaign is an attempt to gather perspectives on events related to the war from individuals across the ideological spectrum.
Choosing a broadband provider can sometimes be a gamble. CNET breaks down your options to help you find fast speeds and competitive pricing in Sin City.
In a world quickly becoming more reliant on artificial intelligence, spurred on by the immense popularity of ChatGPT and subsequent AI tools, a new Workday study has revealed a significant AI trust gap in the workplace.
Employees continue to see AI tools in a sceptical light compared with their bosses, who are more likely to value the opportunities when it comes to business transformation.
Even so, there’s still a large number of workers from all levels that still need convincing. Only six in 10 (62%) C-suite execs welcome AI, but that figure stands even lower among employees, at 52%.
AI trust gap calls for responsible implementation
The findings also expose the degree to which workers lack confidence in their employers when it comes to job security – one-fifth (23%) aren’t confident that their organization puts employee interests above its own when implementing AI, giving them the sense of being out of control.
Business leaders oppose this thought, though. Nearly three-quarters (70%) say that AI should be developed in a way that easily allows for human review and intervention. Clearly, bosses see artificial intelligence more as a human aid.
Workday CTO Jim Stratton its research, "shows that leaders and employees lack confidence in, and understanding of, their organisations’ intentions around AI deployment within the workplace.”
Stratton added: “To help close this trust gap, organisations must adopt a comprehensive approach to AI responsibility and governance, with a lens on policy advocacy to help strike the right balance between innovation and trust.”
Currently, four in five of the 4,000 employees from 15 countries surveyed by Workday say their company has not yet shared guidelines on responsible AI use.
Moving forward, it’s clear that policies need to be put in place that not only protect employees, but also cater to their wants and needs in the workplace. The research signals the importance of building ethical standards in AI, which forms part of a multifaceted approach to closing the trust gap that currently stands.
Job evalutation site Glassdoor has released its list of the "best places to work" for 2024, with a number of tech firms managing to break into the top spots.
There was particular interest for Nvidia, which was named as the second best company overall, and Apple, which managed to claim a spot in the list after falling out in 2023.
Management consulting giant Bain & Company took the top spot, but there were high rankings for other notable tech firms, including Service Now (#3), Procore Technologies (#5), VMware (#7) and Deltek (#8).
Glassdoor Best Places to Work
Outside of the top 10, there were also high placings for the likes of Adobe (#15), Microsoft (#18) and Google (#26), with 31 tech firms making up the top 100 in total - a fall from 41 in 2023.
9to5Mac noted that Salesforce, Intel, Netflix, and Yahoo dropped out of the top 100 list in 2024, and there was once again no place for Meta. Among the tech newcomers in the list were Lenovo and Samsara.
Nvidia took second place overall thanks to its average 4.7/5 rating over the past year, just 0.1 behind Bain.
“Worklife is rapidly changing, and professionals are turning to Glassdoor to share their experiences about working for some of the most competitive employers in the world,” said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor Chief Executive Officer.
“The Best Places to Work award is a stark reminder of the power of Glassdoor, from arming professionals with career insights and real-time conversations about all things work and life, to providing employers with feedback to improve. Glassdoor has evolved to make sure that transparency isn’t a fad, but rather, a foundational component in the future of work.”
The study comes following recent figures showing layoffs in the technology space have continued at pace. In 2022, around 165,000 tech workers were laid off, followed by over 262,000 in 2023, and more than 3,000 in the first two weeks of January 2024 alone (via layoffs.fyi).
At CES 2024, we tried on and learned about Nuance Audio glasses, which use a technology similar to AirPods Pro 2 to help people hear better without dedicated hearing aids.
Smart telescopes are all the rage in the stargazing world, and they're probably the future of astrophotography. Now Unistellar has cemented its position in this field with the dual launch of the Odyssey and Odyssey Pro at CES 2024.
They're strikingly similar to the Celestron smart telescope that was also announced at CES, and what’s neat about Unistellar’s Odyssey and Odyssey Pro is that they're controlled remotely using a newly developed Unistellar app.
From the comfort of your sofa you can view what your Odyssey telescope sees on your smart device, and control which part of the night sky it's aimed at, using the telescope’s ‘autonomous field detection technology’, which Odyssey also calls a ‘smart star finder’.
The makers say the new GPS-equipped smart telescopes can “autonomously point towards and track any desired celestial object from the moment they are turned on, so you can be admiring outer space in just a couple of minutes.“ In short, it’s stargazing made easy.
Unistellar innovation meets Nikon optics
Unistellar is a familiar name in the astrophotography world – it launched the Unistellar eQuinox 2 at last year’s CES, and also makes the mighty eVscope 2. This year’s models are much smaller and lighter and have a wider appeal, thanks in part to what Unistellar calls ‘Multi-Depth Technology’, which enables you to instantly switch between viewing nearby planets and faraway galaxies and nebulae.
You can easily choose what to look at via the Unistellar app for iOS and Android, with handy info about each of the 5000-plus planets and nebulae in the app database for newbies and enthusiasts to absorb, too.
Nikon has got in on the action with these new smart telescopes too, designing the high-precision autofocus optics used in both models, and the electronic eyepiece found in the Pro model only – ideal for those who prefer to get hands on with their telescope. On the technical front, both models have a field of view of 34 x 45 arcmin, an 85mm mirror diameter and a 320mm focal length. There's more info on the Unistellar website.
At 4kg, the Odyssey and Odyssey Pro are much lighter than Unistellar’s previous offerings, and come supplied with a sturdy tripod, although their five-hour battery life doesn’t compare. Both models are available from the Unistellar website or camera retailers – the Odyssey will set you back $2,499 / £2,199 (about AU$3,750) while the pricier Odyssey Pro costs $3,999 / £3,499 (about AU$6,000). That’ll count out most people, but Unistellar has nonetheless transformed the experience of getting lost among the stars.
We’re covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.
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Every year CES – the Consumer Electronics Show – introduces us to a treasure trove of innovative technologies, and that’s no truer than in the fitness and wearables category. CES 2024 has been no different.
At last year’s conference, we saw a displayless smartwatch, smart beds for athletes, and an at-home pee tester (kinda yucky, but potentially a handy health accessory).
This year we (thankfully) don’t have toilet-based gadgets we want to highlight, but there are plenty of other fitness and wearable gadgets we’ve loved finding out more about – and have even got hands-on time with to see if they can live up to the hype.
Here are some of the best wearables and fitness tech from CES 2024 including a glove that counters Parkinson’s tremors, fitness headphones with an in-built AI coach, and a smartwatch we could see surviving anything.
Smartwatches at CES 2024
The Garmin Lily 2 and Garmin Lily 2 Classic(Image credit: Garmin)
There’s usually a handful of smartwatches on display at CES, typically sleek sophisticated-looking things that combine fitness tracking with an elegant electronic timepiece.
That’s true of the newly announced Garmin Lily 2 which boasts a “petite, fashionable” smartwatch design – coming in at just 20.6g – and a hidden display that shows a patterned background until tapped. It’s also plenty useful with connected GPS – although no built-in GPS, which would have been a huge upgrade for runners and cyclists over the original Garmin Lily – as well as five days of battery life, sleep scores, menstrual cycle tracking, and a pulse oximeter for checking your blood oxygen levels. It’s available now for $249.99 / £249.99, with Australia prices TBC.
Garmin also launched the HRM-Fit heart rate monitor which has been tailored specifically for people who wear medium and high-support sports bras. It offers all the same real-time workout information tracking in a package that should be more comfortable for sports bra wearers than traditional Garmin heart rate monitors.
The Casio G-Shock Rangeman GPR-H1000(Image credit: Casio)
If you instead want a smartwatch that looks like it would survive a nuclear explosion there’s the Casio G-Shock Rangeman GPR-H1000. It features heart rate monitoring, a pulse oximeter, built-in GPS, and Casio's Triple Sensor for measuring altitude, compass bearing, and temperature. Casio’s smartwatch can also give you sunrise and sunset times, and global tide data making though it comes at a price. When it launches on January 20 it’ll set you back $500 / £449 (around AU$750).
Smart rings at CES 2024
Smart rings are becoming all the rage – they’re like fitness watches but pack all of their health-tracking sensors into a ring that’s a lot less bulky and distracting.
The 4g Amazfit Helio ring is coming to claim Oura’s crown at the top of our best smart rings list with its promises of detailed sleep tracking and readiness scoring that could help you improve your running and cycling workouts. Though to access its premium analysis features you’ll need to pay $69.99 (approx £75 / AU$105) per year.
The Evie smart ring(Image credit: Movano)
Conversely, the women-first Evie smart ring offers a one-and-done approach. The ring is not only packed with helpful trackers for sleep, blood oxygen, and heart health, but it also has an AI that can look at this info as well as logs related to your menstrual cycle, mood, and activity levels to provide insight on what has positive impacts on your health – such as noting that the days you log more steps than average are days your mood is higher.
It even has an open ring design to account for the changes in women’s finger sizes at different points in their menstrual cycle. The Evie smart ring launches later this January but only in the US for $269.
Fitness headphones at CES 2024
The Mojawa HaptiFit Terra headphones(Image credit: Mojawa)
Music can be a powerful workout tool with powerful tunes helping you to push through a workout, or distract you from how tired you’re feeling on your long run. But Mojawa’s new bone conduction headphones want to take things further with an AI sports trainer who can help you take your training further, apparently.
With vibration-based training guidance Mojawa’s HaptiFit Terra headphones’ AI “elevate workouts into complete training sessions with automatically generated exercise plans.” How this looks in practice is anyone’s guess but when it launches in the next couple of months – the official release date is Q1 2024 – we should find out.
The gadget is currently on presale for $199.99 / £239.99 – slightly cheaper than the $299.99 retail price (Australian and UK release prices to come in the future). On top of the AI you’ll get headphones with an IP68 water resistance rating and 32GB of on-board music storage that’s controlled by pressure-sensitive haptic controls.
Sennheiser also introduced a new set of Momentum Sport headphones, with built-in fitness tracking and PPG heart rate sensor, as well as the full range of Polar's impressive fitness metrics. The Sport buds go on sale on the 9th of April with a selling price of $329.95 / €329.99 / around AU$492.14.
Health wearables at CES 2024
The GyroGlove(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
By working to counter her tremors Roberta Wilson-Garrett – a person with Parkinson’s – told us that she can make herself a cup of tea, button her shirt, and eat something using utensils thanks to the FDA Class-1 approved glove. In a live demonstration, we saw a stark contrast between her ability to draw with and without the glove.
The GyroGlove is available to buy right now – though each hand will cost you $5,899 (around £4,600 / AU$8.800) – but CES is also a chance to see the future of health tech, like the Vixion 01 specs.
This sci-fi visor isn’t yet another Apple Vision Pro competitor. They’re glasses that can automatically correct your vision so whatever you’re looking at is always in focus. The clear advantage being you’d only need to buy one pair of specs for the rest of your life. If your vision changes the Vixion 01 will adjust itself so you can still see with perfect clarity. The only downside is we don’t know when it’ll release, or how much it’ll be at launch.
Check out our CES 2024 hub for all the latest news from the show as it happens. We'll be covering everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI, so stick with us for the big stories.
And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor!
