🤖 Apple's Tabletop Robot, DHS Biometric Plan, Iranian Cyber Threats
Good morning. It’s Thursday, August 15. Today we are covering:
Apple Pushes Ahead With Tabletop Robot in Search of New Revenue
DHS plans to collect biometric data from migrant children 'down to the infant'
A Single Iranian Hacker Group Targeted Both Presidential Campaigns, Google Says
Apple is opening the iPhone's NFC chip to third-party apps with iOS 18.1
GitHub Actions artifacts found leaking auth tokens in popular projects
Let’s dive in
Apple Pushes Ahead With Tabletop Robot in Search of New Revenue
By Mark Gurman via Bloomberg
Apple is developing a high-end tabletop home device that combines an iPad-like display with a robotic arm, aimed at offering a twist on existing products from Amazon and Meta.
The project, led by the executive who oversaw Apple's car initiative, involves a team of several hundred people and features a display capable of tilting and spinning 360 degrees.
This device represents Apple's continued search for new revenue streams, as it explores innovative home products in the robotics space.
𝕏: Apple is pushing ahead with a tabletop robotic device -- an AI-centric iPad on a moving arm -- and has put former Watch and Car chief Kevin Lynch in charge. It's aiming for a release between 2026 and 2027 for around $1000. - Mark Gurman (@markgurman)
DHS plans to collect biometric data from migrant children 'down to the infant'
By Eileen Guo via MIT Technology Review
DHS plans to collect biometric data, including facial recognition, from migrant children under 14, raising concerns about privacy and consent, especially given the lack of clear policies.
The initiative is part of a broader OBIM research effort to improve facial recognition technology, leveraging the data from children to address challenges in identifying minors as they age.
Critics argue that this program, conducted at US border zones, risks advancing surveillance technology at the expense of vulnerable populations with limited protections and oversight.
𝕏: The Dept of Homeland Security plans to collect photos of migrant children "down to the infant" to improve how facial recognition handles children's faces over time... & quietly changed policies restricting the collection of biometrics from minors. - Eileen Guo (@eileenguo)
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A Single Iranian Hacker Group Targeted Both Presidential Campaigns, Google Says
By Andy Greenberg via WIRED
Iranian hacker group APT42, linked to the Revolutionary Guard Corps, has targeted both Trump and Biden campaigns, as well as Israeli organizations, through phishing attacks.
The group has successfully breached sensitive accounts, potentially leaking data from the Trump campaign, echoing tactics used by Russia in 2016.
Google and Microsoft have been actively blocking these attempts and collaborating with law enforcement, highlighting the growing threat of cyber espionage beyond Russia.
𝕏: Google's security teams say they saw a hacking group linked to Iran's IRGC target in May and June the personal email accounts of "roughly a dozen individuals" affiliated with Biden and Trump, including current and former officials and campaign staffers. - Dustin Volz (@dnvolz)
Apple is opening the iPhone's NFC chip to third-party apps with iOS 18.1
By Chance Miller via 9to5Mac
Apple will open the iPhone's NFC chip to third-party apps for contactless payments and other uses with the release of iOS 18.1, expanding beyond Apple Pay.
This feature will initially be available in select countries, including the U.S., U.K., and Brazil, and developers can integrate it by entering a commercial agreement with Apple.
Users will be able to set a third-party app as their default contactless payment app, marking a significant shift in how NFC is utilized on iPhone.
𝕏: Tap to pay using USDC on iPhones incoming soon. Wallet devs, start your engines. - Jeremy Allaire - jda.eth / jdallaire.sol (@jerallaire)
GitHub Actions artifacts found leaking auth tokens in popular projects
By Bill Toulas via BleepingComputer
GitHub Actions artifacts in several high-profile open-source projects, including those from Google, Microsoft, AWS, and Red Hat, were found leaking authentication tokens, posing significant security risks.
Attackers could exploit these leaked tokens to gain unauthorized access to private repositories, potentially leading to code theft or injection of malicious code.
GitHub has not addressed the root causes of these leaks, placing the responsibility on users to secure their artifacts and review their CI/CD pipeline configurations to prevent future exposures.
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