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• Canada accuses Google of abusing its dominant ads market position
• The result of a years-long investigation into the company
• Google could have to sell off two of its ad tech tools

Canada's Competition Bureau has confirmed plans to take legal action against Google for alleged anticompetitive business practices in the online advertising industry.

The Bureau accused the firm of locking market participants into using its own ad tech tools and abusing its dominant position to make it difficult for rival companies to compete.

The news is the result of an earlier investigation into the company's ad tech tools, which resulted in Canada's Competition Bureau getting its first related court order in 2021. Susequently, it expanded its investigation earlier this year.

Google now faced with anticompetitive lawsuit

Specifically, Google has been criticized for giving its own tools preferential access to ad inventory,

taking losses to undercut rivals, and dictating the terms on which its own publisher customers could transact with rival ad tech tools.

“Google's conduct has prevented rivals from being able to compete on the merits of what they have to offer, to the detriment of Canadian advertisers, publishers and consumers," stated Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition.

The complaint has now been handed over to the Competition Tribunal, and if it decides to proceed with the legal action, Google could have to sell off two of its ad tech tools, pay penalties and stop engaging in anticompetitive practices.

Google’s Dan Taylor, VP of Global Ads, says the complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice,” adding, “Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers.”

Canada's investigation follows other related action by the US Department of Justice and the European Union. It's also not the first time Google has had a running with Canada – in 2016, it investigated the company's online search, search advertising and display advertising practices.

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• Local media reported hackers broke into Uganda bank's IT system and wired out $16.8 million
• Subsequent investigation uncovers a fraud scheme, with the "hacking" being a cover-up story
• Part of the money was recovered

An organized criminal group seems to have stolen millions of dollars from Uganda’s central bank, and then made up a story about the bank being hacked, to cover up their tracks.

A report from local media publication, The Monitor, notes how news recently broke of a Southeast Asian threat actor called Waste apparently broke into the bank’s IT infrastructure, and used the access to wire roughly $16.8 million (62 billion Ugandan shillings) out of the country.

The country’s finance minister, Henry Musasizi, even told the country’s parliament that the reports were true, after which global news wire agencies and media, such as Reuters, picked the story up.

Organized crime

"It is true our accounts were hacked into but not to the extent of what is being reported. When this happened, we instituted an audit and at the same time, an investigation," Musasizi apparently initally told Uganda's parliament.

"To avoid misrepresentation of facts, I wish to indulge the House that we be patient that when the audit is finalised, which is now at the tail-end, I come and report."

However, newer reports are saying that the investigation uncovered a larger scheme, possibly including insiders.

Apparently, a group created fake expenditures regarding waste management activities in Uganda, and sent the money out in two batches. One batch, some $7 million, was sent to a bank account in the UK. It was subsequently frozen and is now considered as recovered.

The other batch, $6 million, was sent to a bank in Japan, and has not been recovered because the fraudsters on the Japanese side “presented ‘solid and sufficient’ paperwork to prove that they undertook the said activities against which BoU effected payment of $6m.”

The masterminds of the scheme, according to a subsequent investigation conducted by a "renowned consultancy firm" are in the Ministry of Finance's Treasury department and Accountant General's office, "with possible involvement of Central Bank staff with top level clearance."

"The perpetrators then created a cover-up story of hacking of the Central Bank's IT infrastructure," the publication concludes.

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• Three Advantech access points carried 20 vulnerabilities due to shared firmware
• Six of the flaws are critical, with a severity score of 9.8
• They allow for remote code execution, denial of service, and more

Multiple Advantech access points have been found carrying almost two dozen vulnerabilities, some of which even enabled remote code execution (RCE) with root privileges, experts have warned.

A report from cybersecurity researchers at Nozomi Networks, who noted EKI-6333AC-2G, EKI-6333AC-2GD, and EKI-6333AC-1GPO access points had 20 vulnerabilities, due to shared firmware. Of those 20, six were deemed critical, with a severity score of 9.8.

The affected devices provide dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity for industrial applications, such as EV manufacturing, or automated protection lines. They ensure real-time communication for thingslike rail-guided vehicles (RGVs), and as such play a major role in an industrial setting.

Severe impact

The report outlines two ways crooks could exploit these flaws: either through LAN/WAN, or over-the-air. With the former, attackers can send malicious requests to the device, given they have network access. With the latter, however, they only need to be close enough to leverage weaknesses in wireless protocols.

The impact can be quite severe, Nozomi further explained. Attackers could abuse the flaws to install backdoors and thus enable continuous access; they could cripple automation processes with denial-of-service (DoS) attacks; and they could use the access points for lateral movement throughout the target infrastructure, potentially deploying more malware or even ransomware.

"These vulnerabilities pose significant risks, allowing unauthenticated remote code execution with root privileges, thereby fully compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected devices," the researchers commented.

The flaws have since been fixed. For EKI-6333AC-2G and EKI-6333AC-2GD, make sure to patch to version 1.6.5, and for EKI-6333AC-1GPO, 1.2.2. Furthermore, researchers recommend users continuously monitor the devices and proactively manage any potential vulnerabilities, to safeguard their industrial IT infrastructure.

The full list of all the flaws, their CVEs, severity scores, and impact on vulnerable devices, can be found on this link.

Via The Hacker News

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• Nothing may treat us to three new phones by mid-2025
• It seems very likely the Nothing Phone 3 will be one of them
• One or two mid-range handsets could also be in the pipeline

Nothing has already told us that the Nothing Phone 3 is going to be landing in 2025 – and a new rumor suggests there are going to be another couple of Nothing handsets launching before the middle of 2025 rolls around.

According to well-known tipster Yogesh Brar, there are three handsets in "active development" at Nothing right now, and furthermore it's "likely" that they'll all break cover during the first half of next year.

So let's start with the Nothing Phone 3, as it seems the most obvious of the trio. We thought we would get the sequel to the Nothing Phone 2 this year, but in June the Nothing co-founder and CEO Carl Pei announced it would be pushed back to 2025.

The reason, as you might expect, was AI. Pei talked about a "redefined" smartphone experience with "AI interactions" that are "seamless and smart" – so it'll be interesting to see what the Nothing team comes up with next year.

What happens next?

There are 3 new phones from Nothing under active development right now.These Will likely cover H1 2025November 29, 2024

Aside from extra AI – and presumably speedier internal components – we haven't heard too much up to now about what the Nothing Phone 3 is going to be bringing with it. So what are the other two handsets Yogesh Brar is talking about?

Well, perhaps we can actually count the Nothing Phone 3 as two phones. A few days ago we saw a leaked benchmark for a mid-range Nothing handset, suggesting we might get both a Nothing Phone 3 and a Nothing Phone 3 Pro in the coming months.

Quite where that leaves a potential successor to the Nothing Phone 2a and the Nothing Phone 2a Plus remains to be seen – but it's a pretty safe bet that the third handset here is going to be a cheaper Nothing Phone 3a, or something along those lines.

There's always the chance Nothing could surprise us – with another glow-in-the-dark phone for example – but if you're a fan of the way this company puts together its smartphones, it seems you've got a lot to look forward to in 2025.

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• Casio recently unveiled a cross between a watch and a smart ring
• It's now officially launching outside Japan in other countries
• US pricing will be $120 / £105 (around AU$185)

Earlier in November, watchmaker Casio announced that it would be launching a clever ring that's designed to look like one of its classic timepieces, all to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. At first it seemed like the device would be limited to Japan, but Casio has now revealed that it will actually go on sale around the world.

The product, dubbed the CRW001-1, is a ring designed to look like a miniature Casio GMW-B5000 watch. It comes with a rounded design and link-style strap, complete with a digital clockface.

It can’t measure your body’s metrics and it’s hardly going to compete with any of the best smartwatches, but it can tell the time in two locations, set alarms, run a stopwatch, and it also comes with a small built-in LED light. As well as that, Casio says it’s “waterproof for daily use.”

The CRW001-1 has now gone on sale on Casio’s US website for $120, while you can get one for £105 in the UK. When the CRW001-1 originally appeared on Casio’s Japanese website, it was priced at 19,800 yen. Pre-orders aren’t yet open, but Casio says it’s expected to land in December.

Not the first ring watch

(Image credit: Casio)

The CRW001-1 only comes in one size – the equivalent of US ring size 10.5 – but you can get additional spacers to help it fit on smaller fingers. It’s made from stainless steel, and that helps it tip the scales at a relatively hefty 16 grams – significantly more than the 3-gram Samsung Galaxy Ring.

Casio’s CRW001-1 is not the first ring to mimic a digital watch. Last month, rival firm Timex launched the T80, a watch-ring hybrid that can tell the time (although it lacks some of the CRW001-1’s functionality). Before that, Casio brought out a series of watch-shaped rings in 2023, although these were merely ornamental and could not tell the time.

If you’re interested in the CRW001-1, keep an eye on Casio’s website for the full release date. It may not match the best smart rings for features, but it could be a fun little collectible timepiece regardless.

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