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Google announced end-to-end encryption for Gmail web

To render its emails more difficult to hack, Google is deploying a new update. According to a Google announcement, Gmail will soon support end-to-end encryption in web browsers. The capability, which is presently in beta, enables customers to send and get encrypted emails both inside and outside of their domain, according to a blog post from the company.

The new technology, which Google describes as client-side encryption, will make sure that important information in the body of the email and attachments is unreadable by Google servers. Additionally, it will provide customers access to the encryption keys while allowing the identity service to access them.

Google noted, “Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our facilities Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs.”

Client-side encryption (CSE) in Google Workspace enables the processing of data encryption in the client’s browser prior to data transmission or cloud-based storage in Drive. The company emphasized will not be able to access users’ encryption keys. It noted, “You can use your own encryption keys to encrypt your organization’s data, in addition to using the default encryption that Google Workspace provides.

With Google Workspace Client-side encryption (CSE), content encryption is handled in the client’s browser before any data is transmitted or stored in Drive’s cloud-based storage. That way, Google servers can’t access your encryption keys and decrypt your data. After you set up CSE, you can choose which users can create client-side encrypted content and share it internally or externally.”

Gmail’s end-to-end encryption will make sure that all email communications sent by users are encrypted by the sender and can only be decoded on the device of the intended receiver.

The emails and attachments transmitted with them cannot be decrypted or read by any organization or third party, including Google’s own email server. The fact that Google already offers client-side encryption on Google Drive, Sheets, Docs, Google Meet, Slides, Google Calendar and Google is noteworthy.

According to Google, customers with Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, or Education Standard are eligible to sign up for the Gmail client-side encryption (CSE) beta program. The beta program is accepting applications through January 2023. Users must submit a Gmail CSE Beta Test Application, which must include details like their email id, test group domain, and Project ID.

Users of Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as older G Suite Basic and Business customers, will not be able to use the new feature as of now. According to Google, the public release will be made available at a later time in 2023.

Google has made it clear that the new functionality would encrypt both the email content and all attachments, including embedded photos. Google, however, will not encrypt the email’s header, which contains the topic, timestamps, and recipient lists.

Additionally, Google has stated that “in an upcoming release” it will add client-side encryption to its Gmail application for iOS and Android devices.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Google can soon read your doctor’s bad handwriting

Many doctors prescribe medication in haste, thereby making it almost impossible for their patients to comprehend what they intended to write. This issue has existed for decades, and many tech companies have repeatedly tried to fix it without much to no success. Google is now attempting to translate those difficult-to-understand texts.

On Monday, at its annual conference, Google announced that it is partnering with community pharmacies to explore ways to recognize doctor handwriting.

The feature, which is currently in research and not yet available to the public, enables users to either snap a picture of the prescribed medication or attach one from their photo library. After processing the image, the application senses and highlights the medications mentioned in the note, as demonstrated by a Google executive.

“This will act as an assistive technology for digitizing handwritten medical documents by augmenting the humans in the loop such as pharmacists, however no decision will be made solely based on the output provided by this technology,” the company said in a statement.
Source: techcrunch.com

Google for India is the firm’s annual conference in the South Asian business, where a variety of brand-new developments are showcased. The corporation also stated that it is working on a single, unified model that will comprise more than 100 Indian languages including both speech and text in order to enhance the internet journey of the incoming millions of South Asians.

It has nearly five hundred million users in India which makes it an important business for the firm. However, it has also been one of the toughest years for Google in the South Asian business, where it has been struck twice over the past months by India’s antitrust regulator.

“We’ve started working on the complex process of identifying what’s written on medical prescriptions by building an assistive model to digitize it, using AI, for medical healthcare professionals”, said by Google India in a statement.
Source: 9to5google.com

A similar type of technology has already been used in Google Lens, a multipurpose object recognition tool powered by Artificial Intelligence that can detect and recognize data and translate different languages. The Google Lens application can currently be used to virtually encode handwritten notes, though the feature varied depending on how easily readable the handwriting was.

Suhani Jain

I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person

Fortnite maker Epic Games to pay $520M in FTC settlement

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

According to The Wall Street Journal, Epic Games Inc., the company that created the video game Fortnite, has consented to pay $520 million to resolve claims made by the Federal Trade Commission that it intentionally violated children’s online privacy laws and tricked users into making unintended purchases.

The creator of the popular video game “Fortnite,” Epic Games, has agreed to pay the US government a total of $520 million to resolve claims that it deceived millions of players, which include kids and teenagers, into making unplanned purchases and that it broke a key federal law protecting the privacy of children.

In order to settle allegations that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting the personal information of children under the age of 13 without first obtaining their parent’s verifiable consent, Epic has agreed to pay the US government $275 million.

According to the FTC, it is the biggest fine it has ever assessed for breaking a rule it has enforced. In a second, different settlement, Epic will fork out $245 million in payments to customers who the FTC claims were injured by user-interface design decisions that were misleading.

According to the FTC, this accord is the biggest administrative order in the agency’s history.

TC commissioner Christine Wilson emphasized the risks of ignoring children’s privacy concerns when it comes to online gaming. She gave three instances of actual underage users involving sexual abuse and child pornography with the intention that it would serve as “a wake-up call to skeptics who believe that invasion of privacy lead merely to targeted advertising.”

The settlement, according to FTC Chair Lina Khan, demonstrates the agency’s increased attention to privacy and so-called “dark patterns,” which are design cues meant to steer users in the direction of a company’s favored outcome.

The FTC and Epic have reached a tentative agreement that restricts Epic from charging customers without their permission or utilizing dark patterns. It also bans Epic from locking users out of their accounts in reaction to users’ refund requests with credit card providers disputing erroneous charges. The agreement will be in effect for 20 years after it is implemented.

Along with paying a fine, Epic will be prohibited from allowing text and voice communication for kids and teenagers without parental approval. Additionally, the company will be required to remove any personal data it earlier connected via Fortnite in contravention of COPPA laws unless it receives permission from parents to keep it.

On its website, Epic wrote a lengthy article describing the accusations and settlement. It noted, “No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here. The video game industry is a place of fast-moving innovation, where player expectations are high and new ideas are paramount. Statutes written decades ago don’t specify how gaming ecosystems should operate.

The laws have not changed, but their application has evolved and long-standing industry practices are no longer enough. We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.”

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Elon Musk proposes to step down as head of Twitter in the poll

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

Amid a series of issues involving the popular social media platform, Twitter owner Elon Musk uploaded a poll on Sunday asking the public whether he should step down as CEO.

“Should I resign as CEO of Twitter?” Musk asked in a tweet.
“I will follow the outcome of this poll,” he added.
Source: thehill.com

As of Sunday, approximately 58 percent of Twitter users wanted Elon Musk to resign, whilst also 42 percent wanted him to remain as the CEO. The poll closed early Monday morning.

Musk jokingly posted a tweet after posting the poll saying, as the phrase goes, be cautious what you wish, as you might get it.

Musk ended up taking Twitter private with his multibillion-dollar acquisition of the firm earlier this year, progressing to fire the majority of its execs and disintegrate its board of directors. He still owes creditors who helped finance the acquisition billions of dollars.

The poll was conducted amid the latest uproar over his erratic handling of the platform, in response to a new Twitter strategy forbidding users from publicizing other social media platforms. Musk suspended the accounts of tech journalists who have been critical of him earlier this week.

The 51-year-old CEO also wrote on Twitter that polls will be held in the future to decide on major company policies.

Musk apologized saying It won’t happen again.

Musk lifted the prohibitions on the journalists after conducting a survey during which 59 percent of Twitter users demanded that the accounts be restored immediately.

The proposed regulations on publicizing other social platforms come at a time when many liberal Twitter users are looking for alternatives.

Meanwhile, brands are removing their advertising from Twitter at an alarming rate. Musk has repeatedly stated that Twitter’s financial situation is dire.

“You must like pain a lot,” Musk tweeted, noting the company “has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy since May.” Yet Musk denied that he has a new CEO in mind.
“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,” Musk tweeted. “The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”
Source: cnn.com

Suhani Jain

Microsoft bans cryptocurrency mining on cloud services

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

According to media sources, Microsoft has prohibited cryptocurrency mining from using its internet services in order to protect all of its cloud users.

Microsoft has amended the Universal License Terms for Online Services, which went into effect on December 1. Microsoft has restricted the use of online services for crypto-mining. It is implemented to safeguard its consumers and cloud services. The IT behemoth announced the latest changes earlier this month.

The update stated, “Neither Customer nor those that access an Online Service through Customer, may use an Online Service … to mine cryptocurrency without Microsoft’s prior written approval.”

Microsoft’s Summary of Changes to the license mentioned, “Updated Acceptable Use Policy to clarify that mining cryptocurrency is prohibited without prior Microsoft approval.”

Microsoft suggested requesting pre-approval authorization to use any of its online services for cryptocurrency mining in the ‘Acceptable Use Policy’ section of its website, which comes amid rising worries about cyberfraud and threats.

The company noted, “Cryptocurrency mining can disrupt or even impair Online Services and its users, and is often associated with unauthorized access to and use of customer accounts.

We made this change to further protect our customers and mitigate the risk of disrupting or impairing services in the Microsoft Cloud. Permission to mine crypto may be considered for Testing and Research for security detections.”

Cryptocurrency cloud mining enables users to mine without the need for additional hardware or equipment. According to statistics from the blockchain research firm, Blockchain Council, this aspect of no cost associated has piqued clients’ interest in cloud mining. Microsoft Online Services, a part of the company’s SaaS strategy, is its hosted software product.

One of these services is the Microsoft Azure cloud computing network, which offers cryptocurrency mining for several subscription kinds. As was reported earlier, Microsoft also tested out blockchain services on Azure, but in September of last year, the project abruptly ended.

According to sources, Microsoft cloud computing systems have experienced storage issues in recent years as a result of constraints in the ongoing supply chain. Microsoft issued a warning to users about a new cryptocurrency mining malware last year that has the ability to steal credentials, disable security measures, proliferate via emails, and eventually drop additional tools for human-operated operations.

The cryptocurrency mining malware known as “LemonDuck” is propagated by phishing emails, vulnerabilities, USB devices, and brute force assaults in a number of nations, including India. It targeted Linux and Windows systems. This is not the first time that a major IT company has prohibited cryptocurrency mining on its website.

Similar rules apply at Google, which forbids mining without explicit written consent from the company. A mining malware threat detection solution for hacked accounts in Google’s cloud service was added earlier in 2022. Google stated last year that the majority of “malicious actors” had utilized compromised cloud accounts to mine cryptocurrency.

Crypto mining is likewise not permitted during the 12-month free trial of Amazon’s AWS. If users decide to mine on AWS, they can be charged a fee and risk having their accounts suspended.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

15.5-Inch MacBook Air Expected to unveil in Spring 2023

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

Several rumors over the past year have suggested that Apple is preparing the latest 15-inch MacBook Air to exist side by side with the present 13-inch model. for n Now, reliable analyst Ross Young claims that the forthcoming 15.5-inch MacBook Air will proceed with panel production within the first quarter of 2023, trying to imply a spring release.

Young, as well as Bloomberg, have both initially speculated upon the likelihood of a 15-inch MacBook Air. Bloomberg has suggested earlier that there might be a rollout in the spring of next year in particular. latest report of CEO Young claims that panel production will begin in Q1, which corresponds to the prospect of a spring launch date.

Young’s report today also reveals that the forthcoming MacBook Air will come with a 15.5-inch display. This means that Apple will offer two MacBook Air sizes which will be our current 13.6 inches and the latest 15.5-Inch MacBook Air.

Initially, Apple used to sell the MacBook Air in two different sizes which were 11 inches and 13 inches, but somehow it ultimately shortened the lineup and dropped the smaller option.

In addition to the MacBook Air with the larger screen, Bloomberg also revealed that Apple is working on a 12-inch MacBook in June. This computer, however, is not expected to be released until the end of the year 2023 or it might be early 2024.

Providing the MacBook Air in two screen sizes is consistent with Apple’s strategy for the MacBook Air, which would be accessible in 14-inch and 16-inch form factors. With the introduction of Apple Silicon, the firm has made it easier to enlarge its MacBook lineup, which appears to be the case based on these rumors.

In the meantime, according to an online report, Tata Group plans to establish small exclusive Apple stores all over India. According to individuals with knowledge of the situation, Apple is partnering with Infiniti Retail owned by Tata, which operates the Croma store chain, for the venture.

Retail will turn into an Apple franchisee partner, to open 100 stores in malls and high-street nearby locations. The collaboration between Tata and Apple comes as Apple prepares to open its first flagship store owned by the company in Mumbai in the first quarter of 2023.

Suhani Jain

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