Technology
X still has the verified bot problem – this time they came after the TechCrunch authors
This week I used to be scrolling through X, formerly Twitter, and noticed that I had reposted a series of TechCrunch articles. Just, wait, no, I didn’t do it.
But another person did it, using my name. I clicked on the profile and saw a distinct Rebecca Bellan, using the same default and header photos as my actual profile: me on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 and Chloe on the side, respectively. The bio reads: “@Techcrunch Senior Reporter | journalist” and had the location set to New York, where I currently live. The account was created in May 2024.
Perhaps most surprising after realizing that somebody – who? Bot?! — created my account impersonating me, was the incontrovertible fact that they allegedly paid for it, as evidenced by the little blue checkmark next to my name.
When X was still Twitter, a blue checkmark informed other users that the profile had been verified as noteworthy. However, since Elon Musk’s hostile takeover, that checkmark now means a user pays a minimum of $8 a month for a premium subscription, which provides them access to longer posts, fewer ads, higher algorithmic consideration, and Grok. And while X modified tack in April and returned the verification badge to some users based on follower count, a blue checkmark can even mean someone is a fan of Musk. You don’t consider me? Just take a look at all the eager guys who reply to any of them Musk’s posts.
Either way, I’m neither a paid subscriber nor a fan.
I’m not the only one that has been targeted by impersonation accounts. Several TechCrunch journalists were also impersonated on the platform. Some accounts, including my fake one, were suspended after reporting X’s issue. But that only tells us that X is actively aware of this issue.
The problem is that these kinds of spoofing attacks are much easier to perform attributable to the degradation of the X verification system, which doesn’t actually require any identity verification. Having a pay-to-play blue check system just begs bad actors and nation states to abuse it.
X really must have learned his lesson by now. When Musk initially launched the service, then called Twitter Blue, in November 2023, the feature was quickly used to assist bad actors pose as celebrities, corporations and government officials. One account impersonated the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and published a false announcement that insulin was now free. This tweet was viewed thousands and thousands of times before it was deleted, causing the company’s shares to drop significantly in value.
Another account claimed to be basketball star LeBron James and posted that he was officially requesting a trade from the Lakers. Another pretended to be Connor McDavid and announced that the hockey player’s contract had been bought by the New York Islanders.
Accounts claiming to be TechCrunch journalists have thus far been harmless. All they did was repost content that, truthfully, any of us could repost anyway. This suggests that reasonably than particularly malicious actors, the accounts were likely created by bots.
We have been coping with the problem of user X’s verified bot for some time now. The irony is that Musk suggested that forcing users to pay for verification would actually eliminate bots from the platform, but that apparently is not the case.
In the case of individuals you might be impersonating, you possibly can report it to company X, which can end in external verification by sending photos of a government-issued ID and a selfie. I also asked colleagues, friends and followers to report the impersonation of Company X on my behalf, which could have sped up the process.
X didn’t reply to TechCrunch to comment on how lots of its users might actually be bots, why this problem persists, or what the platform is doing to handle it.
Technology
US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during a cybersecurity incident
Artivion, a medical device company that produces implantable tissue for heart and vascular transplants, says its services have been “disrupted” resulting from a cybersecurity incident.
In 8-K filing In an interview with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “compromise and encryption” of information on November 21. This suggests that the corporate was attacked by ransomware, but Artivion has not yet confirmed the character of the incident and didn’t immediately reply to TechCrunch’s questions. No major ransomware group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Artivion said it took some systems offline in response to the cyberattack, which the corporate said caused “disruptions to certain ordering and shipping processes.”
Artivion, which reported third-quarter revenue of $95.8 million, said it didn’t expect the incident to have a material impact on the corporate’s funds.
Technology
It’s a Raspberry Pi 5 in a keyboard and it’s called Raspberry Pi 500
Manufacturer of single-board computers Raspberry Pi is updating its cute little computer keyboard device with higher specs. Named Raspberry Pi500This successor to the Raspberry Pi 400 is just as powerful as the present Raspberry Pi flagship, the Raspberry Pi 5. It is on the market for purchase now from Raspberry Pi resellers.
The Raspberry Pi 500 is the simplest method to start with the Raspberry Pi because it’s not as intimidating because the Raspberry Pi 5. When you take a look at the Raspberry Pi 500, you do not see any chipsets or PCBs (printed circuit boards). The Raspberry Pi is totally hidden in the familiar housing, the keyboard.
The idea with the Raspberry Pi 500 is you could connect a mouse and a display and you are able to go. If, for instance, you’ve got a relative who uses a very outdated computer with an outdated version of Windows, the Raspberry Pi 500 can easily replace the old PC tower for many computing tasks.
More importantly, this device brings us back to the roots of the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi computers were originally intended for educational applications. Over time, technology enthusiasts and industrial customers began using single-board computers all over the place. (For example, when you’ve ever been to London Heathrow Airport, all of the departures and arrivals boards are there powered by Raspberry Pi.)
Raspberry Pi 500 draws inspiration from the roots of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a non-profit organization. It’s the right first computer for college. In some ways, it’s a lot better than a Chromebook or iPad because it’s low cost and highly customizable, which inspires creative pondering.
The Raspberry Pi 500 comes with a 32GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It costs $90, which is a slight ($20) price increase over the Raspberry Pi 400.
Only UK and US keyboard variants will probably be available at launch. But versions with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nordic and Spanish keyboard layouts will probably be available soon. And when you’re in search of a bundle that features all the things you would like, Raspberry Pi also offers a $120 desktop kit that features the Raspberry Pi 500, a mouse, a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable.
In other news, Raspberry Pi has announced one other recent thing: the Raspberry Pi monitor. It is a 15.6-inch 1080p monitor that’s priced at $100. Since there are quite a few 1080p portable monitors available on the market, this launch is not as noteworthy because the Pi 500. However, for die-hard Pi fans, there’s now also a Raspberry Pi-branded monitor option available.
Technology
Apple Vision Pro may add support for PlayStation VR controllers
According to Apple, Apple desires to make its Vision Pro mixed reality device more attractive for gamers and game developers latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The Vision Pro was presented more as a productivity and media consumption device than a tool geared toward gamers, due partly to its reliance on visual and hand controls moderately than a separate controller.
However, Apple may need gamers if it desires to expand the Vision Pro’s audience, especially since Gurman reports that lower than half one million units have been sold to this point. As such, the corporate has reportedly been in talks with Sony about adding support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers, and has also talked to developers about whether they may support the controllers of their games.
Offering more precise control, Apple may also make other forms of software available in Vision Pro, reminiscent of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Photoshop.
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