Streetbeat News

Security

AAPL

At the Def Con 2023 conference, researcher Jae Bochs demonstrated a $70 device that could exploit Bluetooth vulnerabilities in Apple Inc.'s devices. The device taps into Apple’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) system, sending deceptive alerts to iPhones nearby, tricking users into inputting their passwords into a nonexistent Apple TV. Although Apple has been aware of this potential risk since 2019, they still need to address it.

Portfolio Pulse from Sudhanshu Singh

August 17, 2023 | 11:50 am

META

The state of Florida has spent $9.41 million to protect Governor Ron DeSantis, a frontrunner for the GOP nomination in the 2024 election, from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, a 58% increase year-over-year. The report also mentioned that Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg received $13.4 million, $15.1 million, and $14.8 million in personal security expenses in 2020, 2021, and 2022 respectively.

Portfolio Pulse from Chris Katje

August 17, 2023 | 3:23 am

BTCUSD

XRPUSD

Ohio Congressman Warren Davidson has expressed strong opposition to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), emphasizing the potential risks they pose to the digital asset ecosystem. He criticized current CBDC models for being centrally managed and reliant on digital IDs, contrasting sharply with decentralized finance (DeFi). Davidson named the Federal Reserve, Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP), and Consensys among those actively participating in CBDC projects. He is in the process of drafting legislation that would criminalize the design, development, testing, and establishment of a Central Bank Digital Currency.

Portfolio Pulse from Murtuza Merchant

August 16, 2023 | 3:58 pm

SPY

Democrats in Washington, D.C. are forming a 'New Democrat Coalition' to focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and deep fakes, which they consider a national security issue. Deep fakes are AI-generated videos or pictures that use real people's faces and appear natural. There are concerns about the rise of deep fake videos featuring private citizens and their use in political messaging. A bill has been introduced that would require producers to disclose if AI was used in videos. A fake image produced using AI of an explosion at the Pentagon caused a dip in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) and the overall market.

Portfolio Pulse from Aaron Bry

August 16, 2023 | 1:06 pm

TGT

Target CEO reports a 120% increase in theft incidents involving violence or threats of violence in the first five months of this year. The company continues to face a high level of retail theft and organized retail crime.

Portfolio Pulse from Happy Mohamed

August 16, 2023 | 12:37 pm

EVLV

Evolv Technology (NASDAQ:EVLV) has expanded its partnership with South Carolina's Florence 1 Schools, which was the second school district in the U.S. to adopt Evolv's AI-powered weapons detection technology. The school district has expanded its use to 23 Evolv Express systems across eight schools. More than 600 U.S. schools have partnered with Evolv, screening about 250,000 students every day across the U.S.

Portfolio Pulse from Happy Mohamed

August 16, 2023 | 12:08 pm

MSFT

Microsoft Corp. has updated its terms of service for Bing Chat, powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT, to store the conversations of its users. The new terms, effective from September 30, state that Microsoft will process and store user inputs and outputs from the service for monitoring purposes and to prevent abusive use. However, Microsoft and OpenAI have clarified that they will not use this data to train Bing Chat. The new terms apply to non-enterprise users, while enterprise users' conversations will not be saved.

Portfolio Pulse from Rounak Jain

August 16, 2023 | 10:50 am

AAPL

Apple Inc. has been granted a patent titled 'Light Recognition Module for Determining a User of a Computing Device', which suggests the company's Face ID technology could be integrated into its MacBook Pro and iMac devices. The patent describes a 'light pattern recognition module' that uses a light emitter and detector to authenticate users. While the patent primarily addresses MacBook models, it also hints at potential integration into an iMac-style chassis.

Portfolio Pulse from Ananya Gairola

August 16, 2023 | 9:22 am

SNAP

Snapchat's AI-powered chatbot, MyAI, alarmed users by posting enigmatic stories autonomously. The issue was later resolved by Snapchat, stating it was a temporary outage. The chatbot, powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, was rolled out to Snap+ subscribers in February and helped boost its paying subscriber base by 3 million. However, there have been concerns about the chatbot providing unsuitable advice.

Portfolio Pulse from Ananya Gairola

August 16, 2023 | 8:05 am

EWT

FXI

SIGA

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has raised a travel notice for China and Thailand due to surges in monkeypox cases. The countries join 38 others on the Level 1 watch list. China reported 491 cases in July, a 4.6 times increase from June. Thailand has had 119 cases. The CDC confirmed 14 cases in Taiwan between Aug. 8-13, bringing the total to 280 since June last year.

Portfolio Pulse from Happy Mohamed

August 15, 2023 | 3:51 pm