Kalakshar US

The Mexican Sinaloa cartel hired a hacker to track and surveil the FBI, then used that information to intimidate and even kill witnesses against drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, according to a Justice Department report spotted by Ars Technica. The hacker used relatively sophisticated data collection techniques and weaknesses in the FBI’s cybersecurity to identify the witnesses, the report states.

According to the highly redacted report, which is based in part on testimony from an “individual connected to the cartel,” the hacker offered gang leaders “a menu of services related to to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices.” 

The hacker “observed people going in and out of the United States Embassy in Mexico City” and identified people of interest, including the FBI’s Assistant Legal Attache (ALAT). They used the ALAT’s mobile phone number to “obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data associated with the [attache’s] phone.” The hacker also used Mexico City’s camera system to follow the ALAT around the city and identify people they met with. “According to the case agent, the cartel used that information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses,” the report states.

The exact technical methods are redacted but the report explains that the hacker used “ubiquitous technical surveillance” (UTS) to spy on the FBI, which was investigating and eventually convicted Guzmán. The report defines UTS as the “widespread collection of data and application of analytic methodologies for the purpose of connecting people to things, events or locations.” In other words, the cartel used some of the FBI’s own methods against it.

The report said that the recent availability of commercial tools that allow UTS is an “existential” threat. It cited other examples including the use of credit card transaction reports widely available from data brokers along with cell phone call logs. 

The FBI’s response to the UTS threat was “disjointed and inconsistent,” according to the Justice Department, and countermeasures instated in 2022 were “inadequate” and lacking in “long-term vision.” It recommended (among other things) that the agency incorporate all UTS vulnerabilities into its final mitigation plan, identify key officials authorized to execute the strategy, establish a line of authority for responding to UTS-related incidents and ensure ongoing training on UTS strategies.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/el-chapo-drug-cartel-reportedly-tracked-and-killed-informants-by-hacking-an-fbi-phone-120002259.html?src=rss 

Yesterday, the senate was poised to restrict states’ power to regulate AI. Now, the measure is dead in the water, with the Senate voting 99-1 to remove the provision. Are you also having a bit of whiplash? Here’s what you need to know about the amendments rightful journey into the trash can of history. 

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had pushed for an amendment to Trump’s tax bill that would ban states from regulating the AI industry for ten years — if the state took AI infrastructure funding included in the aforementioned bill. A version of the provision passed the House in May. 

On Sunday, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) agreed to a version which would reduce the moratorium to five years and include exceptions for regulations around child safety, deceptive acts and protection of a person’s likeness, voice, name and more. 

The new provision also exempted Tennessee’s Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, enacted last year. The ELVIS Act was passed to prevent AI from using musician’s likeness and voice without their consent. 

Yet, backlash against the amendment continued from Republican and Democrat leaders, Politico reports. My day’s end Blackburn had found sense and withdrew her support. The senate voted early Tuesday morning to nix the amendment, with even Cruz backing its removal. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/senate-votes-against-curbing-state-level-ai-regulation-130025055.html?src=rss 

If you already plan on using Prime Day as an excuse to upgrade your home theater, Amazon has a great deal on one of its premium streaming dongles that could be the perfect thing to complete your setup. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is available for $25 off for Prime Day, lowering its normal price from $60 to $35. That’s $2 away from its lowest price of $33.

While we still prefer Amazon’s Fire TV Stick HD as a budget streaming option, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max could be worth the upgrade for you. Amazon’s device supports 4K video, Dolby Atmos, HDR10+ and if you have a newer router, Wi-Fi 6E. It’s the best option if you’re committed to the dongle-lifestyle — the even-more-powerful Fire TV Cube needs a TV stand to rest on — and a surprisingly great choice if you’re looking for a capable retro game console.

Amazon’s also added in several features to the Fire TV Stick 4K Max that take it beyond a basic streamer. The built-in Ambient Experience lets the dongle display art and widgets when you’re not using your TV, not unlike Samsung’s The Frame and The Frame Pro. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max can also stream games from Xbox Game Pass using the Xbox app or Amazon Luna.

The only real reasons to not consider Amazon’s platform is if you don’t like using Alexa, which acts as the main voice interface for all Fire TVs, don’t want to be pushed towards Amazon’s services or your subscriptions are tangled up in another platform. You can buy subscriptions to a variety of streaming services and live channels through Amazon Prime Video, but if you’ve already done that on Apple TV+ for example, you might want to wait out your subscription before jumping ship. 

This is just one of a few Fire TV deals you can snag for Prime Day. Others include the Fire TV Cube for $90 and the Fire TV Stick 4K for $25.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-amazon-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-is-on-sale-for-35-for-prime-day-122512093.html?src=rss 

Google has rolled out the latest version of Keep and, as 9to5Google has noticed, it no longer supports the Apple Watch. Its iTunes listing now only shows what the note-taking app would look like for iPhones and iPads. Google made its Keep app compatible with Apple Watches back in 2019 when its apps made a return on the wearable after over a year of absence. It hasn’t had a meaningful update for the device since then, but it worked just fine. 

Users who rely on Keep across iOS and Android for, say, to-do lists and reminders, will have to find another option now. While I don’t personally use it, Microsoft OneNote has both an Android app and an app for the Apple Watch. Apple is also bringing its Notes app to the watchOS 26 platform, which is rolling out later this year. It will sync with the Apple Notes app for the Mac, iPhones and iPads. And though it doesn’t have an Android app, users can still access it on non-Apple devices through the iCloud website, where they could also access other Apple features like Find My. 

For iPhones and iPads, Google Keep remains the same. The latest version only rolled out with bug fixes, but Keep still works as intended, allowing users to type in notes and create to-do lists.

While it removed Keep’s support for the Apple Watch, Google has released a pared-down Calendar app for the wearable similar to its app for the Google Wear OS. It shows a week’s worth of the user’s events and Google Tasks as a list of cards, which users can then tap on to display more details. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/google-keep-no-longer-supports-the-apple-watch-123012984.html?src=rss 

Microsoft Authenticator is sunsetting its ability to store your passwords. This month, the service stopped allowing users to add or import new passwords. Beginning in July 2025, users will no longer be able to use autofill with Authenticator, and in August 2025, passwords will no longer be available at all. Payment information stored in Authenticator will be deleted after July, and after the following month, all unsaved generated passwords will be deleted. Passkeys will still be supported in Authenticator.

People who want to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem do have the option to use access their saved passwords when using the Edge browser. But if you’re not interested in Edge, that means Authenticator users may want to peruse their options for a different password manager. Fortunately, there are several excellent choices for password managers that aren’t tied to a particular hardware provider.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/if-youre-using-microsoft-authenticator-to-store-your-passwords-dont-225842265.html?src=rss 

11 Bit Studios has drawn the ire of players for the undisclosed use of artificial intelligence in its recent release, The Alters. The new project from the team behind Frostpunk and This War of Mine is a narratively and thematically interesting take on a science fiction survival game. The project contains a lot of dialogue and written text, and some players discovered in-game copy that appeared to be generated by a large language model. The Steam storefront requires that games disclose when they contain material that is either pre-generated or live-generated by artificial intelligence, and The Alters had not been tagged as including AI content. The studio has issued a lengthy statement in response to the complaints.

One instance involved AI-generated text in a graphic asset. 11 Bit Studios said this asset was only meant to be used as a placeholder during development. “This was never intended to be part of the final release,” the company said. “Unfortunately, due to an internal oversight, this single placeholder text was mistakenly left in the game. We have since conducted a thorough review and confirmed that this was an isolated case, and the asset in question is being updated.”

The other AI use that players uncovered was in some cases of translations. According to 11 Bit Studios, AI was used for subtitle translations on the licensed movies that can be played in social area of the in-game base, which it said were made by an external source without creative input from its team:

“Due to extreme time constraints, we chose not to involve our translation partners and had these videos localized using AI to have them ready on launch. It was always our intention to involve our trusted translation agencies after release as part of our localization hotfix, to ensure those texts would be handled with the same care and quality as the rest of the game. That process is now underway, and updated translations are being implemented.”

AI is an increasingly delicate subject for creative professionals. Many companies with large language models have either been accused of or admitted to training on copyrighted content, which has made AI an ethical nonstarter for many artists and many players. But when studios are regularly faced with negative working conditions surrounding crunch, it’s also understandable why the gaming industry might be inclined to look for ways to speed up the process of shipping a title. The reactions to AI appearing The Alters is likely just the latest in the ongoing conversations about when and how this tech might be a part of game development.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/11-bit-studios-clarifies-its-ai-use-in-the-alters-after-player-outcry-220014181.html?src=rss 

Nintendo of Canada has announced that the pricing of the Switch, its accessories, its games and even Amiibo figures, will all be changing in Canada come August. The pricing adjustment is being made “based on market conditions,” according to the the announcement.

It’s not clear how much the price of the Switch family of products will be changing — Nintendo said new prices will be posted on its Canadian website on August 1 — but presumably they’ll be going up. The company currently sells the Switch for CA$400, the Switch OLED for CA$450 and the Switch Lite for CA$269 in Canada. Meanwhile, the Switch 2 launched for CA$630 in June.

The market conditions Nintendo is responding to could be the result of the suite of tariffs the US government applied to nearly all of its trade partners in April 2025. When the Switch 2 debuted at $450 in the US, many people assumed the new cost of doing business in North America was being factored in. That the price of the Switch is changing before the Switch 2 could be a confirmation of that fact.

While not an intentional ploy to get customers to spend more, if the Switch inches closer to the Switch 2 in price, there’s plenty of good reasons to buy the newer console over the older one in August. In many ways, the Switch 2 is just a nicer Switch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-is-increasing-the-price-of-the-original-switch-in-canada-220145966.html?src=rss