Tech News Today 1855

CCleaner for Windows, the popular antivirus and security app created by and hosted on Avast Software’s site, was found to be tainted with a backdoor and served to millions of its users as an official update directly from the site. The malware was found to have sent detailed information about the infected computer to a server, including a fail-safe system called the Domain Generation Algorithm that would still transmit the stolen data in the event that the hacker’s servers went down.

Intel announced that it would be further collaborating with Alphabet’s Waymo division to be the brains that power its autonomous driving system. Currently, Waymo has Intel-based computing inside the company’s fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans, and Intel says it hopes to deliver on improved power and efficiency with the goal of getting Waymo’s vehicles to Level 4 and 5 autonomy in all types of real world settings.

Samsung is rolling out an update to Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, and Note 8 owners that adds a toggle to the settings to determine what happens when the Bixby button is pressed. The settings only allow you to turn it off or on, so there is no official way to put that button to some other use if you wanted to.

Plus, Google releases Tez to the Indian market for cashless payments, the NES classic GOLF is hidden deep inside the Switch’s firmware, and Alex Kantrowitz from Buzzfeed joins Ron Richards and me to discuss all the ways the online ad marketing industry is infecting itself with racist ad categories.

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Links

• Hackers Hid Backdoor In CCleaner Security App With 2 Billion Downloads -- 2.3 Million Infected
• SOFTWARE HAS A SERIOUS SUPPLY-CHAIN SECURITY PROBLEM
• Waymo Chooses Intel Silicon To Power Automated Driving Stack
• Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India that uses Audio QR to transfer money
• [Update] Samsung finally lets us disable the Bixby button
• Google Allowed Advertisers To Target People Searching Racist Phrases
• Twitter Says It Fixed ‘Bug’ That Let Marketers Target People Who Use the N-Word
• Updates to Our Ad Targeting
• A COPY OF NES GAME ‘GOLF’ IS REPORTEDLY FOUND HIDING ON THE NINTENDO SWITCH