Technology

• Interpol has taken down 22,000 crime-linked IP addresses
• Multiple devices, including servers, phones and laptops were seized
• The Interpol operation led to the arrest of 41 individuals globally

A global Interpol operation has shut down over 22,000 IP addresses linked to cybercrime and malicious threat actors, the agency has said.

Operation Synergia II included agencies from 95 Interpol members and seized 59 servers alongside 43 other electronic devices used in malicious activity including laptops, phones, and hard drives.

41 people were arrested as part of the operation, with a further 65 still under investigation for their participation in cyber criminal activity.

Operation Synergia II

The first Operation Synergia, which concluded in February 2024, saw 31 people arrested and 70 others investigated alongside 1,300 malicious IP addresses identified and numerous command-and-control (C2) servers operated by cyber criminals taken down.

Operation Synergia II has significantly improved on these numbers, with the main focus of the crackdown being on phishing networks, infostealing malware, and ransomware.

In China, police in Hong Kong took down 1,037 servers, with a further 291 taken offline in Macau. 21 houses were searched by authorities in Mongolia leading to one server being seized and the identification of 93 individuals with cybercriminal links.

11 devices were seized in Madagascar, and 11 individuals were identified as having links to servers used for malicious purposes. In Estonia, 80GB of data was seized from a server likely used for phishing operations and banking malware.

“The global nature of cybercrime requires a global response which is evident by the support member countries provided to Operation Synergia II,” said Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate.

“Together, we’ve not only dismantled malicious infrastructure but also prevented hundreds of thousands of potential victims from falling prey to cybercrime. INTERPOL is proud to bring together a diverse team of member countries to fight this ever-evolving threat and make our world a safer place,” Jetton concluded.

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You snooze, you lose on APYs up to 4.75%.

Apple, it seems, is all about ‘intelligence’ these days, as following on from the launch of Apple Intelligence, the company might be about to roll out a feature dubbed Battery Intelligence. But unlike Apple Intelligence’s suite of tools, this new feature will seemingly have just one job.

9to5Mac has found a framework called ‘BatteryIntelligence’ in code from the latest iOS 18.2 beta, and while the feature isn’t active in the beta, it’s reportedly designed to estimate how long it will take to charge your phone.

According to 9to5Mac, Battery Intelligence won’t just estimate the time to reach 100%, but it'll also let you choose to get an estimate for when your battery will reach 80%, and perhaps other charge levels.

It’s easy to see how this could be a useful tool – if you don’t have long to charge, you’ll be able to get an immediate indication of how fully charged your phone will be able to get in a given time. Or, if you don’t want to charge your phone above a certain level (in order to preserve battery health), but haven’t set a charging limit, you’ll know to check on it after however much time the estimate says.

We might not get it in iOS 18.2

The iPhone 16 Pro Max (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

However, as this feature isn’t currently enabled, it’s unclear whether it will actually launch as part of iOS 18.2. It might land with iOS 18.3 or beyond instead, and it’s always possible that Apple will choose not to roll this tool out at all.

Still, there’s a good chance that Battery Intelligence will launch, and since the framework for it is present in iOS 18.2 beta code, we’d think it’s likely we’ll see it sooner rather than later.

Either way, there’s plenty more to get excited about in iOS 18.2, with numerous new AI tools coming, including Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration, and Visual Intelligence.

iOS 18.2 will also add improvements to the Camera Control button and the Find My feature, and it should be coming soon, with iOS 18.2 reportedly landing in early December.

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The clock is ticking on high APYs. Experts expect another rate cut at this week's Fed meeting.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the beating heart of Europe’s economy, employing around 90 million people, creating 85% of new jobs every year and adding value of more than €4 trillion. However, in a rapidly evolving business environment where the competition for customers is more intense than ever before, digital innovation is vital for these businesses to grow.

I am proud to have started my career at start-ups and so I know first-hand that when digitalization is done right, SMEs can reap enormous rewards – increasing their speed to market, making them more efficient, providing the tools required to protect their businesses from threats.

This requires access to the right technologies and support, which for many small businesses are often out of reach. Indeed, our research on SMEs has found that more than 1.2 million European businesses with less than 250 employees are yet to digitize fully, highlighting the scale of the challenge that this sector faces.

Underserved SMEs

The reality is that for years SMEs have been underserved by the technology and telecoms industries. Instead of the right solutions that match the needs of their businesses, SMEs have been offered ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions that are more suited to consumers rather than small businesses. Research by Analysys Mason from last year found that 69% of SMEs in the US switched service provider because they felt product and service options were not tailored to their needs. This is symptomatic of a landscape where larger corporates are prioritized over smaller companies - and it is not contained to North America.

Combined with additional barriers such as funding shortages, and limited time and resources that were highlighted by our survey of 3,000 businesses across 11 European countries, SMEs are left facing a series of obstacles that prevent them from unlocking the benefits that effective technological transformation of their business will bring.

That is why as an industry, we need to step up to better support SMEs in their digitalization journeys.

We need to create solutions that don’t just work for SMEs, but which are made for SMEs – for example tailored security services that match the needs of their organization, or AI tools that empower SMEs to boost their productivity and efficiency in ways that are bespoke to their business.

And we need to consider how connectivity providers can use their bigger enterprise level relationships, for example with Big Tech, to provide SMEs with the right support, giving them access to upskilling and knowledge sharing services that will guide them on their journey.

Strengthening product capabilities

We are strengthening our established product capabilities at our business and paying particular attention to making these affordable and easily accessible to SMEs, enabling them to can compete with larger enterprises and access new markets. We will do this through continued investment in new technology, deepening bespoke partnerships with the best tech companies, growing the number of digital specialists in our company, and providing managed services that are fit for SME customers.

Cyber security is an area where industry needs to level the playing field. As threats multiply and become ever more sophisticated, the onus is on connectivity providers to ensure security platforms work for businesses of all sizes.

If we can tackle the barriers that SMEs face head-on, we will empower new and emerging businesses to effectively use digital tools, fueling growth and contributions to Europe’s economy for years to come. It matters from a supply chain perspective too. The success of companies is built on their relationship with a myriad of suppliers, and it is important that they are technologically coordinated and able to learn from each other.

The potential is immense, but so too are the stakes. We must act now to ensure no small business is left behind in the digital age.

We've listed the best small business accounting software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• Meta to use AI age-prediction software to spot teenagers lying about their age
• Move comes after Instagram introduced teen accounts in September
• Meta will begin moving teens automatically to its new accounts

According to a new Bloomberg report, Meta is set to use AI to predict the age of its Instagram users and automatically transfer anybody under 18 to a teen account, if it believes they are lying about their age.

In the wake of national outcry about the impact of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook on the mental health of teenagers, Meta introduced teen accounts in September. Teen accounts, for children aged 13-17, have built-in limits on who can contact them, and what content they can see. They are automatically set to hide potentially offensive comments and message requests.

Secure accounts for teenagers will only work if those under 18 volunteer to use them or are honest about their ages, which is why Meta has devised a way of enforcing the appropriate accounts. The proprietary software tool Meta has developed, called ‘adult classifier’, will come into play next year and is designed to classify users into two groups: under or over 18 years of age. According to Allison Hartnet, Meta’s director of product management for youth and social impact, the tool will scan a user's profile, what content they interact with, and their follower list to determine their age. Even innocuous “happy birthday” messages can be used to help determine a user's true age.

Busted

Meta's own research from 2019 indicates that social media apps like Instagram can be bad for the mental health of teenagers. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Since teen accounts are new and currently voluntary there’s a large user base of teens on Instagram who are using regular adult accounts. Meta plans to start moving teens who have volunteered their age information onto the new teen accounts very soon, and introducing the 'adult classifier' early next year.

The move is Meta's latest attempt to redress some of the public outcry over the effect of social media on teens. In 2021 a report published in the Wall Street Journal showed that Meta’s reports indicated that it knew Instagram was harmful to the mental health of teenagers, especially teenage girls. “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,” said one slide from Meta’s own report from 2019.

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• Nintendo has confirmed that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible
• It will also support Nintendo Switch Online
• More details to come at a later date

We now know for sure that the Nintendo Switch 2, our tentative name for a Nintendo Switch successor, will be backwards compatible with Nintendo Switch software.

In a new post to the official Nintendo investor relations X / Twitter account, CEO Shuntaro Furukawa said that “at today's Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch.”

The post then goes on to explain that “Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well” with more details set to be “announced at a later date.”

This is Furukawa. At today's Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well. Further information about…November 6, 2024

Rumor mill

Although quite sudden, this news won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the latest rumors about the upcoming console, many of which have pointed toward backwards compatibility. Back in 2023 a Nintendo executive even hinted at the possibility that the Nintendo Switch 2 could be backwards compatible.

Backwards compatibility could be hugely important for existing Nintendo Switch owners thinking about an upgrade, as it will allow them to play some of the best Nintendo Switch games on their new system right out of the box.

Hopefully, any software played on the Nintendo Switch 2 will be able to benefit from its almost inevitably improved technical specs, with smoother frame rates and potentially improved resolutions. Just bear in mind that this is pure speculation at this time and we’ll just have to wait and see what Nintendo has in store.

The confirmation that Nintendo Switch Online will be coming to the platform is rather interesting too, suggesting that the transition between the two platforms could be quite smooth compared to be previous generations.

In case you need a recap, in May this year Nintendo confirmed that a "successor to the Nintendo Switch" will be announced, "within this fiscal year". As the Japanese fiscal year ends on March 31, 2025, there’s a strong chance that we will learn even more about the system in the coming months.

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