New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) In a worrying trend, Elon Musk-owned X is manually reviewing certain users’ direct messages (DMs) to investigate reported violations and misuse of its service, “or to comply with laws or governmental requests”.

When an X user with @kimdotcom account posted this policy update, the tech billionaire on Monday did not provide a clear answer to the query, which goes against the policy of providing end-to-end encryption to every content on the platform.

“It currently works in a clunky way for one to one messages (if you turn it on). We’re working on making it easy to use and apply to group messages too,” Musk replied.

“X audio and video calls are automatically encrypted,” he added.

Several users raised an alarm over X apparently manually reviewing DMs.

“Is it me or did Elon not understand the question of Kim? Kim was worried about reviewing the DMs by government request,” an X user posted.

Another user commented: “You didn’t address the root on the concern. Why is X collaborating with governments to sift through our private DMs?”

–IANS

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San Francisco, July 7 (IANS) The fight between Apple and Epic Games is not over yet and now, Epic Games Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has said that the App Store owner’s EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) saga “has taken a turn towards the absurd”.

In Europe, the new DMA allowed Epic to launch its own Epic Games Store on iOS and to bring its popular Fortnite back to the platform, with reduced commissions to Apple.

However, Apple rejected the games store twice.

The gaming company said in a post on X that Apple has told some press channels that, though they have approved “our current EGS iOS App for notarisation, they are still demanding Epic change the user interface in a future version”.

Epic posted about Apple’s “arbitrary, obstructive” rejections.

Sweeney added that “Apple is now telling reporters that this approval is temporary and are demanding we change the buttons in the next version – which would make our store less standard and harder to use”.

“We’ll fight this,” he added.

Epic has been fighting Apple for years over the company’s revenue-sharing requirements in the App Store. In March this year, the US Department of Justice and 17 state Attorneys General filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of monopolistic smartphone practices.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which comes under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, has warned users of multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) which could allow an attacker to compromise the targeted system.

The affected software includes Microsoft Edge Stable versions prior to 126.0.2592.81.

“Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) which could allow an attacker to compromise the targeted system,” said the CERT-In advisory.

According to the cyber agency, these vulnerabilities exist in Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) due to “Use-after-free in Dawn and Swiftshader”. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by persuading a victim to visit a specially crafted webpage, it said.

“Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code and compromise the targeted system,” it added.

CERT-In advised users to apply appropriate security updates as mentioned by the company.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 7 (IANS) Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in its 46-page show-cause notice to Hindenburg Research, has detailed how the US short-seller shared an advance copy of its critical report on the Adani Group with New York-based hedge fund manager Mark Kingdon two months before its public release.

The show-cause notice alleged that Hindenburg, Kingdon’s hedge fund, and a broker associated with Kotak Mahindra Bank benefited from the over $150 billion decline in the market value of Adani group’s 10 listed firms after the publication of the report.

The markets regulator has also accused Hindenburg of making “unfair” profits through collusion, using non-public and misleading information to induce panic selling in Adani Group stocks.

Last week, senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani alleged that a businessman with Chinese links had commissioned the report by Hindenburg Research which led to shares of Adani Group companies taking a hit.

In a post on social media platform X, Jethmalani claimed that Kingdon, the American businessman behind Kingdon Capital Management LLC, had hired Hindenburg to prepare a report on the Adani Group.

The SEBI has issued a show-cause notice to Hindenburg Research, Nathan Anderson and the entities of Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investor (FPI) Kingdon for trading violations in the scrip of Adani Enterprises Ltd, leading up to the Hindenburg report and thereafter.

An investigation by the markets regulator also exposed that Kotak Mahindra and Hindenburg conspired together to take short positions in Adani shares.

Kotak Mahindra (International) Ltd, a unit of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has said Hindenburg was never a client of the group’s K-India Opportunities Fund (KIOF) and Kotak Mahindra International Ltd (KMIL).

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) India’s security market, with biometrics and surveillance emerging as major segments, is predicted to surpass $15 billion by 2029, industry officials said.

Speaking at the Security and Fire Expo organised by Informa Markets in India, Bijoy Alaylo, Vice President, TP-Link Consumer, said that the surveillance market in the country is projected to boost at a “CAGR of over 16 per cent this decade, driven by the rapid evolution of technologies introduced year-over-year”.

“In India, the surveillance market is currently valued at about $4.3 billion with projections indicating it will exceed $15 billion by 2029,” he mentioned.

The video surveillance systems market in India is undergoing a significant change, with a focus on IP cameras and IoT (Internet of Things) integration in high-risk environments to enhance security.

Industry experts predicted that this shift will drive the market from $2.6 billion in 2024 to $7.4 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 14 per cent.

As per Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO of Prama Hikvision India, the Indian security market is full of growth opportunities.

“As we embrace technological innovation and adapt to evolving societal needs, we are witnessing the convergence of advanced technologies such as AI, IoT and big data,” he said.

Last year, India’s smart home security camera shipments grew 48 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in the first quarter (Q1) — January to March, according to Counterpoint Research.

As per the report, there was a major increase in demand for home security products as offices started to reopen for working professionals during that time.

–IANS

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