Router Configuration Is Behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp Massive Downtime

Facebook has experienced a global-scale downtime late last night which also affected its subsidiaries including Instagram and WhatsApp.  Lasted for more than 6 hours, the company has provided some explanation a few hours after it manages to put back all of its services online again.

In a blog post by Facebook’s Vice President of Engineering and Infrastructure, Santosh Janardhan, the root cause behind the massive downtime was apparently due to some configuration changes that were performed on the company’s backbone routers. He pointed out that these routers were responsible for the traffic between Facebook’s data centres.

The changes somehow interrupted the traffic flow which then led to the global-scale downtime. Santosh was quick to point out that the company didn’t find any evidence that user data has been compromised during the incident.

In general, Santosh’s explanation is in line with what Facebook’s CTO, Mike Schroepfer said earlier that the company was experiencing networking issues. Nevertheless, the timing of the massive downtime is rather interesting though as it happened right before Facebook’s former product manager Frances Hauge, who leaked tons of documents to The Wall Street Journal is scheduled to testify in front of the U.S Congress regarding her time with the company.

Google Signs Massive Deal With News Corp, In Exchange For Contents

News Corp has announced that Google has agreed to sign a three-year deal with the company in exchange for contents from its news sites all over the world. The exact financial terms behind the deal were not revealed but News Corp has stated that it will receive “significant payments” from Google.

According to the press release from News Corp, among its publications that are coming to Google News Showcase as the result of this deal includes The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post from the US together with The Times & The Sunday Times and The Sun from the UK. The Australian and Sky News is part of the deal too.

Meanwhile, the new deal does not only involve content access. News Corp stated that there will also be the development of a subscription platform as well as audio journalism, investments in video journalism by YouTube, and ad revenue sharing.

The announcement is certainly an interesting development for Google who has been facing pressure from the Australian government regarding an upcoming law that requires the search engine giant to pay media companies for the contents that appear on Google’s sites. In fact, it actually got to the point where Google is already looking to pull out Google Search from Australia in its attempt to ease the pressure.

However, signs of Google bowing down to the pressure have begun to appear earlier this month when it signed a paid deal with several Australian media houses including Nine Entertainment, and Seven West Media. So, given these deals, it seems that users in Australia will most probably able to continue using Google Search for the foreseeable future.

Singapore-Made App SHAREit Alleged To Have Massive Security Flaws

Researchers at cybersecurity software firm Trend Micro said they found serious security flaws within popular file sharing app SHAREit. The app, developed by Singaporean company Smart Media4U, could be manipulated to steal user data and/or install malicious software on Android phones.

According to Trend Micro and Gizmodo, hackers and other malicious actors could easily access the app’s code if they exploited the way it communicates with other Android apps. Then they could take over the app to “run custom code, overwrite the app’s local files, or install third-party apps without the user’s knowledge,” ZDNet explained.

It’s important to note that this only applies to the Android version of the app. As ZDNet noted, SHAREit’s iOS app uses a different codebase. The Trend Micro researchers who discovered the flaws said they already notified Google of the matter.

More worryingly, they said they alerted the app’s developer to the problem three months ago, but did not receive a response. Therefore, they decided to go public with their findings, “since many users might be affected by this attack because the attacker can steal sensitive data and do anything with the apps’ permission.”

SHAREit is quite popular in Malaysia, currently ranked #37 by Sensor Tower in its Google Play free apps category. Gizmodo said that the app was among those blacklisted in January by the outgoing Trump administration as a “Chinese connected” application that collects a concerning amount of personal information.

Samsung Announces Galaxy F62 With Massive 7000mAh Battery, 64MP Sony IMX682 Sensor

Samsung lifted the veil from its Galaxy F62 for the Indian market earlier today and suffice to say, it’s packing some fairly impressive hardware for a mid-range smartphone. The phone is a direct successor to Galaxy F41 and from the looks of it, it’s set to give some of its Chinese rivals a run for their money.

Specs-wise, the Galaxy6 F62 is packing Samsung’s Exynos 9825, a choice of 6GB or 8GB RAM, 128GB expandable storage, and a massive, hulking 7000mAh battery with 25W fast charging support. On the outside, the phone has a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Full HD+ display, with a maximum brightness of 420 nits. Additionally, it’s also an Infinity-O display, with the punch hole housing a 32MP camera sensor.

Around the back, the main camera of the Galaxy F62 comprises four sensors, including a 64MP Sony IMX682 main, a 12MP ultra-wide angle, a 5MP bokeh, and a 5MP macro. Lastly, charging and file transfers is conducted via the phone’s USB-C port at the bottom.

As to how much its costs, the Samsung Galaxy F62 will be available in two variants from 22 February onwards: the 6GB model is expected to retail for approximately US$330 (~RM1331), while the 8GB variant should cost around US$344 (~RM1387). At the time of writing, Samsung did not specify local availability or pricing.