Google, Meta and others face tough questions in Australia over cyber extremism threats
SYDNEY (AP) -- Australia's online safety regulator has put social media giants on notice, requiring them to explain what they are doing to protect people from violent extremists and terrorists. The country's eSafety regulator says it has issued legal notices to Google, Meta, X, WhatsApp, Telegram and Reddit, requiring each company to report on steps they are taking to protect Australian users of their platforms from extremist material online. Accessing violent and extremist content on social media has been blamed for the radicalization of the gunman in the 2019 Christchurch mosques shootings, which killed 51 people, and also a gunman who murdered 10 black Americans in Buffalo, New York in 2022. Both shooters livestreamed parts of their attack online.
Social media influencer is charged with joining the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol
According to court records unsealed on Monday. a conservative social media influencer has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police. Isabella Maria DeLuca was arrested last Friday in Irvine, California, on misdemeanor charges, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area. DeLuca, who has more than 333,000 followers on the platform formerly known as Twitter, is a former congressional intern who works as a media associate for The Gold Institute for International Strategy. DeLuca's profile on the institute's website says she served as an ambassador for the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA.
UnitedHealth says it has made progress on recovering from a massive cyberattack
UnitedHealth is testing the last major system it must restore from last month's Change Healthcare cyberattack, but it has no date yet for finishing the recovery. The health care giant said Monday that it is testing software for submitting medical claims. It already has largely restored systems for handling pharmacy claims and processing payments. Change Healthcare provides technology used to submit and process insurance claims. It handles about 14 billion transactions a year and works with claims from several insurers. The company said last month that the ransomware group ALPHV, or Blackcat, gained access to some of its information technology systems.
Former British tech star depicted as scam artist, visionary in trial about HP's disastrous 2011 deal
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Federal prosecutors on Monday painted one-time British tech star Mike Lynch as the ruthless mastermind of an $11 billion deal that defrauded Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard. But his lawyer depicted him as a visionary who was made a scapegoat for a desperate buyer's bad decision. The contrasting portraits of Lynch emerged at the start of a criminal trial revolving around HP's 2011 acquisition of British software maker Autonomy -- a deal that was initially celebrated as a coup, but instead unraveled into a costly debacle. Lynch, once hailed as an example of British ingenuity, is facing 16 felony counts of fraud and conspiracy that could send him to prison for more than 20 years if a jury convicts him of all charges. The trial in San Francisco federal court is scheduled to last two to three months.