Chinas RedAlpha hacking group is reportedly spying on Indias NIC: Whats at stake

A hacking group allegedly backed by the Chinese government has been attacking governments, NGOs, news publications and think tanks globally -- including India's National Informatics Centre (NIC) -- sending them emails which, once opened, were used to steal their login credentials. The group known as 'RedAlpha' has consistently spoofed login pages for NIC, which manages wider IT infrastructure and services for the Indian government. The hacking group weaponised some least 350 domains last year alone. The China-sponsored hacking group spoofed organisations such as the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International, the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), Radio Free Asia (RFA), the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and other global government, think tank, and humanitarian organisations that "fall within the strategic interests of the Chinese government". According to a report by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, the group has also engaged in direct targeting of ethnic and religious minorities, including individuals and organisations within Tibetan and Uyghur communities. "In recent years RedAlpha has also displayed a particular interest in spoofing political, government, and think tank organisations in Taiwan, likely in an effort to gather political intelligence," said the report. The China-based hacking group targeted individuals via emails containing abasic PDF files with links to the phishing sites, typically stating that a user needs to click the link to preview or download files. Over the past three years, RedAlpha continued to conduct credential-phishing activity using large clusters of operational infrastructure to support campaigns. "In late 2019 and early 2020, the group likely shifted away from older infrastructure TTPs exhibited in public reporting, such as the registration of domains through GoDaddy and hosting on Choopa (Vultr) and Forewin Telecom infrastructure," the report revealed. The researchers observed RedAlpha consistently register domains spoofing Taiwanese or Taiwan-based government, think tank, and political organisations. "Notably, this included the registration of multiple domains imitating the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan, during a time of increasing US-China tension regarding Taiwan over the past year," they said. RedAlpha's activity has expanded over the past several years to include credential-phishing campaigns spoofing ministries of foreign affairs in multiple countries. A Chinese government spokesperson told the MIT Technology Review that the country opposes all cyberattacks and would "never encourage, support, or connive" to carry out such activity.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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Xiaomi NoteBook Pro 120G, Smart TV X Series 4K India launch has been announced: What to expect

It looks like Xiaomi India will be revealing some new products on August 30. The company has already teased some of the products that will be coming out. The Xiaomi NoteBook Pro 120G laptop and the Xiaomi Smart TV X series will be coming up on August 30. Let's look at these upcoming Xiaomi products in more detail.

"Fast Fluid Fantastic" is written on the teaser page for the Xiaomi NoteBook Pro 120G. This means that the laptop could run quickly and smoothly. The teaser image of the laptop looks a lot like the ones from 2021. Xiaomi hasn't said anything about the specs of this laptop.

We don't know exactly what the 120G name means, but it might refer to a 12th-generation Intel processor or a screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Since the last generation of Xiaomi laptops came with 11th-generation Intel processors and 65W fast-charging technology, the new NoteBook Pro 120G is likely to improve in these areas. The teaser also hints at what the NoteBook could look like. We think it might be a slightly changed version of the RedmiBook Pro 15 2022, which came out in China in March.

Watch whatever you want in high resolution because there’s a TV specially designed for you. Experience #YourNewView is here with #XiaomiSmartTVXSeries 4K! Know more: https://t.co/PWjFI1nssX pic.twitter.com/vUpLsBYPsr

— Xiaomi TV India (@XiaomiTVIndia) August 21, 2022

The teaser doesn't say much about the Xiaomi Smart TV X series though. It just says "4K Your New Resolution" and the release date.

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When will Nothing Phone 1 receive Android 13 Heres what Carl Pei has to say

Not so long ago, Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, and known for his innovative designs, unveiled the Nothing Phone 1. Now there is some confusion over when precisely Android 13 would be released for the Nothing Phone 1, despite the fact that the company has promised three years of upgrades.

 

Launched with the promise of "good" Android compatibility, the Nothing Phone 1 has been met with mixed consumer reviews. Starting with Android 12, you'll get OS upgrades for a full three years and security patches twice a year for the next four years. It's comparable to the warranty terms for OnePlus devices.

However, Android 13 is now available and being rolled out to Pixel phones and in beta testing for smartphones from OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, and more.

Meanwhile, Nothing hasn’t announced the Android 13 update schedule for Nothing Phone 1. Carl Pei provided an intriguing response to the question by stating that a phone is "more than simply its specifications, functions, and version numbers."

Though that makes some sense, it is hardly the statement that will win over or please its current and prospective customers. Although the rate at which software is updated isn't the deciding factor in whether or not a user enjoys their phone, it is an essential feature of any smartphone. In many cases (say with iPhones), it’s a significant selling point. Nothing boasts that the gadget offers "just the finest of Android" and a "perfected" experience on its website.

When there are still software issues with the current builds, answering a reasonable query like this might be perceived as a little off-putting, and Nothing's update commitment has already fallen behind most of the competitors. Max Weinbach has been tweeting about his first impressions of the Nothing Phone, noting problems like the phone's inability to auto-rotate.

Whatever the situation, we expect Nothing will provide an update on its intentions for Android 13.

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WhatsApp may soon include Undo option to retrieve deleted messages: How it could work

After putting out the WhatsApp beta for iOS 22.18.0.70 update, which lets you see status updates right in the chat list, WhatsApp is now giving some iOS beta users a way to get back messages they accidentally deleted.

 

WhatsApp might add a new feature that will make using the app better. WABetaInfo said that the messaging platform owned by Meta is working on a new feature that will let users get back deleted messages in a chat. Reports say that the feature was seen in WhatsApp's latest Android beta release.

 

How you could restore deleted WhatsApp messages

According to the screenshot in the report, when users delete a message in the chatbox, they will see an "Undo" option. But this option will only show up for a few seconds, just like when we delete an email in Gmail.

Notably, only beta testers will be able to use it, and if you are one, you can go to the Play Store and update your app. Even if you don’t see the feature right away, we urge you to be patient as all beta testers should be getting it soon. It is likely to be rolled out in stages.

In another report, WABetaInfo said that the messaging platform is also working on a feature to hide a user's phone number from people they don't know. Note that it is being tested only on Android. 

WhatsApp recently also launched a new app for Windows. This new app lets people use WhatsApp on their Windows OS-powered computers as they used it on their phones.

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CERT-In points out multiple Google Chrome vulnerabilities: What you need to know

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has warned users about multiple vulnerabilities in Google Chrome for desktop that can let hackers gain access to their computers. The multiple vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code and Security restriction bypass on the targeted system, according to an advisory by CERT-In, that comes under IT Ministry. "These vulnerabilities exist in Google Chrome due to use after free in FedCM, SwiftShader, ANGLE, Blink, Sign-In Flow, Chrome OS Shell; Heap buffer overflow in Downloads, Insufficient validation of untrusted input in Intents, Insufficient policy enforcement in Cookies and Inappropriate implementation in Extensions API," the cyber agency said. A hacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending specially crafted requests on the targeted system. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code and Security restriction bypass on the targeted system, said CERT-In. "The vulnerability (CVE-2022-2856) is being exploited in the wild. The users are advised to apply patches urgently," said the agency. CERT-In also warned about bugs in Apple iOS, iPadOS and macOS and a "remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by enticing a victim to open a specially-crafted file". It also found multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco products again, which could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code, information disclosure and cross site scripting attack on an affected system. The nation's premier cyber agency had alerted about bugs in Cisco products in the recent past too.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

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Motorola announces first Android 13 update list, Includes Moto G62 and G32

A few days ago, Android 13 was released as part of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), and Google has begun rolling out the stable version of Android 13 to all Pixel phones that are eligible. Android 13 beta has already been pushed to some phones by Samsung, OnePlus, Realme, OPPO, Asus, Xiaomi, Nokia, and other OEMs besides Google.

Samsung has been testing OneUI 5.0 for Android-based Samsung phones, while OnePlus and OPPO recently announced Oxygen OS 13 and Color OS 13, as well as a list of devices that can run them. Realme may also be getting ready to launch the Realme UI 4. Now, Motorola has joined the fray by confirming a list of devices that can run Android 13, which will be released soon.

According to the company's website, the Android 13 update will come to the Motorola Moto Edge 30 Pro. The website has a list of 10 phones that will get the latest version of the Android OS. Out of the 10 phones, four are from the Moto Edge series, and six are from the Moto G series. The website doesn't say when the update will be available. India got the Moto Edge 30 Pro in February of this year. Google's Pixel phones recently got the official Android 13 update from Google.

List of Motorola Devices Confirmed to Get Android 13 Update Motorola Edge+ (2022) Motorola Edge (2022) Motorola Edge 30 Pro Motorola Edge 30 Moto G Stylus 5G 2022 Moto G 5G 2022 Moto G82 5G Moto G62 5G Moto G42 Moto G32

As of August 20, 2018, only six of the ten smartphones above are available in India. The Motorola Edge 30 Pro, Edge 30, Moto G82 5G, Moto G62 5G, Moto G42, and Moto G32 are some of these.

Other devices may also get the Android 13 update, but Motorola hasn't confirmed it yet for the following smartphones:

Motorola Edge 20, Edge 20 Lite, Edge 20 Pro, Edge Plus, Moto G60, Moto G51 5G, Moto G52, Moto G22, Moto G31, Moto G40 Fusion, and Moto G71 5G.

The company hasn't said when the Android 13 update for the phones mentioned above will be available. The website also doesn't note when the update will be released.

Google recently said its Pixel smartphones would get the Android 13 update soon. The company also said that later this year, other companies' smartphones would start getting updated.

In India, the Moto Edge 30 Pro came out in February of this year. The phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. It has a 6.7-inch pOLED display with full-HD+ (1,0802,400 pixels) resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 20:9 aspect ratio, and DCI-P3 colour gamut.

The phone also has a triple-camera setup on the back with a dual-LED flash. It has a 60-megapixel selfie camera on the front of the phone. The Moto Edge 30 Pro has a 4,800mAh battery and can be charged quickly with 68W TurboPower.

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Apple has revealed major security flaws in its iOS and macOS devices

This week, Apple issued a pair of security checks, including warnings about critical vulnerabilities affecting some of the company's best-selling products. Apple believes the flaw may provide an attacker "complete administrator access," meaning the attacker could assume the identity of the device's owner and install the software in their stead, as reported by Bloomberg.

Apple has issued a warning about a major security flaw that may enable hackers to take control of iOS and macOS devices and is recommending users upgrade immediately. 

Full control over the device

Webkit, the technology behind Safari and other applications, and the kernel, the core of the operating system, were both stated to have flaws by Apple. The iPhone 6S and newer products, as well as all iPad Pro and iPad Air 2 models, as well as Mac laptops running macOS Monterey, would be vulnerable. Some iPod models are also susceptible to flaws.

According to the business, "there has been word that this vulnerability may have been actively exploited."

Users of the iPhone 6S and other models, as well as the iPad 5th generation and later, all iPad Pro models and the iPad Air 2, have been urged by security experts to upgrade their devices.

Several iPods are also impacted

In a tweet, Rachel Tobac, the CEO of SocialProof Security, said that activists and journalists in the media spotlight are most likely to be spied on by smart nation-states.

Companies that specialize in commercial spyware, like Israel's NSO Group, are adept at finding these flaws and leveraging them to create malware that can stealthily infect a smartphone, then monitor and take data from the device while keeping the target user completely unaware of the infection. The US Department of Commerce has issued a blacklisting order against NSO Group. Its malware has been used to target journalists, dissidents, and human rights advocates in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The statement came only days before Apple disclosed the iPhone 14 on September 7. Yet, Apple has not responded to any requests for comment.

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