Techme101.com

Israel’s NSO Group, best known for its spyware, has been ordered by a U.S. court to hand over its Pegasus code to WhatsApp.
It’s the latest hurdle for the company, having been blacklisted in the U.S., subjected to a lawsuit by Apple, and experienced significant financial difficulties.
According to the Guardian, Judge Phyllis Hamilton reviewed NSO’s request to be released from all its discovery duties in the lawsuit, citing “various US and Israeli restrictions.” Despite this, she ruled in favor of WhatsApp, mandating that NSO produce “all relevant spyware” data spanning one year before and after the timeframe when 1,400 WhatsApp users were reportedly targeted by the Pegasus spyware, covering the dates from April 29, 2018, to May 10, 2020. 
NSO is also required to provide WhatsApp with details about the complete capabilities of the specific spyware. However, Hamilton ruled in favor of NSO on a separate issue, deciding that the company is not obligated to reveal the identities of its customers or details about its server setup at this stage.
A WhatsApp spokesperson told the Guardian, “The recent court ruling is an important milestone in our long-running goal of protecting WhatsApp users against unlawful attacks. Spyware companies and other malicious actors need to understand they can be caught and will not be able to ignore the law.”
What are the dangers of Pegasus spyware?
Pegasus is advanced spyware designed for military use, capable of infiltrating mobile phones remotely to gain complete dominance over the device. When Pegasus covertly installs itself on a phone, it can duplicate texts, images, emails, and record conversations, as well as turn on microphones and cameras for uninterrupted spying, all without the user’s awareness. 
It was developed by the cyber-arms firm and was subsequently blacklisted by the U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021. The government stated that the company knowingly provided spyware used by foreign governments to maliciously target the phones of dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists.
Meta has been approached for further comment.
Featured image: Canva
The post Pegasus spyware: US court orders maker to hand over code to WhatsApp appeared first on ReadWrite.

Fanatics, the licensed memorabilia manufacturer has launched its official sportsbook in New York state.
The announcement comes from the subsidiary of the clothing maker, Fanatics Betting and Gaming. So those who reside or visit the Empire State will be able to download and place bets via the Fanatics Sportsbook on iOS and Android to “begin their Fanatics Sportsbook experience.”
Fanatics Sportsbook now in 15 states
This venture into the Big Apple will mark the fifteenth state that the sportsbook has launched in the United States. The original operator in this territory was PointsBet, but in August 2023 Fanatics had begun the process of acquiring the competitor and migrating over users to the new Fanatics app.
Fanatics said, “each PointsBet customer’s username, password, account balance, rewards points and responsible gaming settings will be automatically migrated to the Fanatics Sportsbook.”
The operator has endeavored to “build a better sportsbook” with this new Fanatics app for Android and iOS, stating that the “design, speed and quality of the navigation experience rival the sports betting apps in the market .”
Fans can also get 5% of their stakes back in FanCash, which is a bonus credit from betting with the provider and can be used on their website.
States such as Indiana, Iowa and Michigan have also seen the sportsbook take root to compete with the likes of FanDual and Draft Kings for sports gambler’s cash.
Draft Kings brought in a very regal addition to its sports offerings with the announcement that four-time NBA most valuable player LeBron James would be joining the company. The new talent ambassador joined an exclusive list alongside Michael Jordan and David Beckham as he gears up to give his thoughts on NFL and other sports.
Earlier this year we reported that Draftkings were also looking for a larger slice of the gambling action across the U.S. with the possible acquisition of Barstool Sports.
So the gameboard of sports gambling continues to be set and reset as 2024 draws on, but it remains to be seen who will be the biggest operator in American sports parlay placing when the final whistle goes.
Image Credit: Fanatics Media Resource Centre.
The post Fanatics Sportsbook launches in New York State appeared first on ReadWrite.

Yesterday we reported that the head honchos at Rockstar Games had made a decision to order all staff back to office working conditions five days a week. The premise for the move is that as GTA6 gets closer to launch it would allow security to be ramped up and minimize leaks, as well as increase productivity.
The games industry has been making objectionable decisions for well over 12 months as far as its workers are concerned, and with every new straw added to the camel’s back, it feels as though something major will happen soon.
Eurogamer is reporting that the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain has “blasted” Rockstar for its return to office order with seemingly very little intention of allowing exceptions.
Quoting a petition signed by Rockstar employees in 2022, the new edict marks “a U-turn from previous statements in which the company insisted flexible work options would remain available “Employees have been quick to voice their dismay to the Union with one saying, “After so many broken promises we now fear management may even be paving the way for a return to toxic ‘crunch’ practices. Senior leadership needs to rethink their reckless decision-making and engage with their staff to find an arrangement that works for everyone.”
The Union itself is not holding back, releasing a strongly-worded statement from chair Austin Kelmore.:

“The workers in the IWGB Game Workers Union at Rockstar are pushing for transparency over pay and promotions, a healthy and inclusive workplace culture, and work-life balance centered around what each worker needs,” 
“Workers across the industry are done with letting executives make reckless and harmful decisions and the Rockstar workers are showing us the start of what’s to come if they’re continually ignored. There’s no better time than now to join our union and push for this to be the healthy and sustainable games industry we know it can be.”
We spoke to a Rockstar UK employee yesterday who did not want to be named who said, “People are speculating that it’s a soft mass layoff” and “by making conditions worse” people will quit “so there wouldn’t be any severance.”
It is difficult to see how this is the culture and atmosphere that Rockstar is hoping will bring about one of the most hotly-anticipated games of all time. 
Supporters of a move to unionize across the games industry are becoming more vociferous and it feels as though we are heading to an industry-wide watershed, with workers getting fed up of the lack of job security in an industry that makes its shareholders billions of dollars every year.
The post GTA6 fury: Union says “Workers are done with letting executives make reckless and harmful decisions” appeared first on ReadWrite.

CD Project Red has released a new Cyberpunk patch that aims to fix a host of issues for console and PC gamers. The new update titled ‘Patch 2.12’ hopes to alleviate the issues that have hit gamers taking on the streets of Night City.
“Patch 2.12 for Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty is being rolled out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It focuses on main issues experienced by players after Patch 2.11, such as key bindings,” the recent release said from the award-winning studio.
As we reported last month, a huge update for Cyberpunk 2077 brought lots of changes to the base version of the game and the downloadable content Phantom Liberty in late January.
Phantom Liberty has redeemed a lot of the early faith fans put in the Witcher 3 developer’s dystopian project. The Idris Elba-led content also opened the door for more players to take on the role of V and banish the bad memories of the game being de-listed from the Playstation Store and other sales outlets.
Cyberpunk Patch Notes
Xbox users have been experiencing a particular bug that presents a constant loading screen, but the recently released patch hopes to fix the issue “where the game could enter an infinite loading state, hang up or crash on Xbox when using some saves.”
For PC players there are a raft of smaller quality-of-life fixes like certain keyboard “bindings.” These bindings allow players using a keyboard to effortlessly switch a certain onscreen or background element with an assigned key command.
PC-specific Cyberpunk 2077 updates:

It will now be possible to properly rebind the Radioport and dropping bodies to a different key on AZERTY keyboards. Switching quest objectives will now be assigned to the T key on all keyboards.
Fixed an issue where trying to bind the T key to actions in Exploration & Combat resulted in a “Binding Failed” error.
Together with Intel we fixed the stuttering issue that occurred while the “Prioritize P-Cores” option was enabled.
Together with Razer we fixed a crash that occurred when using Razer Chroma-enabled devices.
Fixed an issue where NPC hair could appear extremely bright inside vehicles when Ray Tracing is enabled.
Fixed a crash that occurred on Steam Deck when playing with Ray Tracing enabled.

Patch 2.12 also addresses a number of problems with important quest lines and their interactive elements, as well as a worrying gang of immortal enemies appearing across Night City.
Patch updates for all versions of Cyberpunk 2077:

Fixed an issue causing the inability to access the menu, inventory, stash, holocalls and fast travel.
Updated the description of the Sonic Shock quickhack so that it properly reflects the changes made to its behavior in 2.1.
Improved visibility of the controller cursor in menus and when using computers or keypads. This change will primarily help Steam Deck users, but will also benefit consoles and PC when using a controller.
New Dawn Fades – Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to open the phone to read the notification from the Automated Delivery System.
I Can See Clearly Now – Lowered the Body attribute check required to move the dumpster.
I Walk the Line – Sasquatch’s jump attack will now properly register as a hit and deal damage.
Riders on the Storm – Enemy cars in the chase sequence will now shoot at Panam’s van.
Nocturne Op55N1- Fixed an issue where, after choosing to call Reed, the conversation sometimes wouldn’t trigger, blocking progression.
Sonic Shock will now be properly categorized as a Covert quickhack.
Fixed instances where groups of immortal enemies could appear across Night City.
Fixed an issue where some elements on the perk screen wouldn’t change after switching to Colorblind Mode.
BioDyne Berserk will now properly have increased Crit Chance from its Reflexes Attunement.

The Polish Studio will continue to update its flagship first-person-shooter and has also kept fans of Geralt and the Witcher series happy with news of a successor title being in the works as early as this year.
Image Credit: CD Project Red.
The post Cyberpunk 2077’s new patch aims to fix infinite load on Xbox appeared first on ReadWrite.

Genshin Impact always releases some extremely time-limited codes for free stuff with every live stream and the latest video event, for 4.5 of the game is no different.
For fans who watched through threw was a code given that would give you 100 Primogems and ten Mystic Enhancement Ore.We know you don’t have time for all that video watching in your busy lives though so we have scooped up the code you need for you so you can claim it immediately and will add any more as the stream goes on.
As we say, these codes rarely last more than a day so if you are close to where you play your Genshin Impact now, it would be better to get this tapped in sooner rather than later.
Genshin Impact Codes 4.5 Livestream
The codes are coming in at this moment but the stream is still ongoing, so we are updating as they drop/

100 x Primogems`
10 x Mystic Enhancement Core

To claim the above enter the code:

DAKTDBWTZTYR
Update: A new code has dropped.

100 x Primogems
5 x Hero’s Wit

To claim the above enter the code:
AT3BDSWTYBKD
Update: A New code has dropped

100 x Primogems
50,000 Mora

To claim the above enter the code:
5TKAUAWAGBJR
How to claim codes in Genshin Impact
To do this head into the game go to Settings and find your Account tab. From there you will see a Redeem section. Open that up and put your code in and the prizes will be yours.
On the off chance you are not close to your install, the code can also be entered via the miYoHo website. Simply log in and paste the code from above and your goodies will be waiting for you the next time you get to log in.
If any more codes pop up we will add them to this page, so stay tuned in.
The post Get these latest Genshin Impact Primogem codes from the 4.5 livestream appeared first on ReadWrite.