खबरUS

Mitron App, a TikTok Clone, Is Back on Google Play Just Days After Being Removed

2020-06-05T19:19:00.000+05:30

Mitron had managed to cross 50 lakh downloads before being removed

Mitron app, a TikTok clone, is available via Google Play store once again. The short video platform was removed from Google Play store earlier this week due to violations of Google Play policies. Google said Mitron violated its “Spam and Minimum Functionality” policy, but later clarified that the tech giant was working with the developer to help them fix issues. Now, just a day after that clarification, the app is back in Google Play. Before being pulled, the Mitron app had managed to cross 50 lakh downloads.

The Google Play store listing for the Mitron app is live once again. The app calls itself a ‘free short video and social platform based out of Bengaluru, India', and its user interface is very similar to that of TikTok.

Google on June 2 had pulled Mitron from Google Play claiming that its policy doesn't allow apps that offer ‘the same experience as other apps already on Google Play.' The policy reads, “Apps should provide value to users through the creation of unique content or services.” It also states that the app should provide a “basic degree of functionality and a respectful user experience.”

Mitron was launched in Google Play store less than two months ago and has capitalised on the anti-China and anti-TikTok sentiments prevailing in the country right now. Last month, the app was reported to have a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to compromise user accounts and send messages on behalf of a specific user. The flaw didn't allow any bad actor to steal personal information such as the email ID that a user had used to sign up an account on the Mitron app. It is unclear if the developer has fixed the security flaw in the new version.

An official changelog present in the Google Play store mentions UX (user experience) changes as the only new thing in the application.

While Mitron is back on Google Play store, another app that was recently removed – Remove China Apps – still remains delisted.

DigiLocker की इस कमी से खतरे में था 3.8 करोड़ यूज़र्स का डेटा

2020-06-03T17:30:00.000+05:30

DigiLocker है भारत सरकार का ऐप

DigiLocker साइट पर उपलब्ध आंकड़ों को देखें, तो 3.84 करोड़ रजिस्टर्ड यूज़र्स इस प्लेटफॉर्म का इस्तेमाल करते हैं। इस प्लेटफॉर्म पर आधार कार्ड, इंशोरेंस लेटर, इनकम टैक्स रिटर्न, मार्कशीट जैसे कई डॉक्यूमेंट्स को स्टोर किया जाता है।

एक के बाद एक सरकारी ऐप्स में बड़ी-बड़ी खामियां सामने आ रही हैं, जिससे लाखों नागारिकों के निजी डेटा पर आसानी से हैकर्स सेंध मार सकते हैं। CSC BHIM वेबसाइट के बाद अब DigiLocker पर भी कुछ इसी तरह के सवाल उठ रहे हैं। DigiLocker, एक सरकारी ऑनलाइन सर्विस है, जिसमें डॉक्यूमेंट्स को डिज़िटली स्टोर करने की सुविधा है। हालांकि, इसमें ऑथेंटिकेशन में खामी पाई गई, जिसके कारण करोड़ो यूज़र्स का डेटा खतरे में था। इस कमी का लाभ उठाकर हैकर्स टू-स्टेप ऑथेंटिकेशन को बायपास करके किसी का भी संवेदनशील डेटा एक्सेस कर सकते थे। हालांकि, खामी उगाजर होते ही, इसे फिक्स कर दिया गया है। गौर करने वाली बात यह है कि इस सरकारी सर्विस का इस्तेमाल 3.84 करोड़ यूज़र्स करते हैं, अगर यह खामी सामने नहीं आती, तो कोई भी इन सभी यूज़र्स के डेटा का गलत इस्तेमाल आसानी से कर सकता था।

Security Researcher आशीष गहलोत ने DigiLocker की इस कमी को उजागर किया था। उन्होंने ऑथेंटिकेशन मैकनिज़म को एनालिसस करते हुए डिजिलॉकर सिस्टम में इस कमी को पाया। हालांकि, रिसर्चर ने पाया कि डिजिटल स्टोरेज में लॉग-इन करते समय डिफॉल्ट मैकनिज़म वन-टाइम पासवर्ड (OTP) और पिन मांगता है। लेकिन, वह इस प्रक्रिया को बायपास करने में सफल रहे, उन्होंने इसमें आधार नंबर जोड़ा और डिजिलॉकर के कनेक्शन को इंटरस्पेट करते हुए पैरामीटर्स बदल दिए।

जो भी शख्स टेक्निकल ज्ञान रखता होगा, वह इस ऑथेंटिकेशन कमी का लाभ उठाकर नया पिन सेट कर सकता है और यहां तक कि डिजिलॉकर अकाउंट को एक्सेस करने में भी कामयाब हो सकता है, वो भी बिना किसी पासवर्ड के। इसके अलावा इस कमी के जरिए हैकर्स ओटीपी प्रक्रिया को बायपास करके यूज़र प्रोफाइल को भी एक्सेस कर सकता है और इंटरस्पेटिंग टूल का इस्तेमाल करके कई बदलाव भी कर सकता है।

आपको बता दें, गहलोत ने डिजिलॉकर में यह कमी पिछले महीने देखी थी, जिसके बाद उन्होंने इसकी जानकारी डिजिलॉकर टीम को भी दी। टीम ने कुछ ही दिनों में पिन बायपास की इस कमी को फिक्स कर दिया। हालांकि, ओटीपी बायपास कमी को सोमवार को फिक्स किया गया है।

Clarification about Reported Vulnerability on DigiLocker👇 pic.twitter.com/hEz19QJDsj
— DigiLocker (@digilocker_ind) June 2, 2020

DigiLocker साइट पर उपलब्ध आंकड़ों को देखें, तो 3.84 करोड़ रजिस्टर्ड यूज़र्स इस प्लेटफॉर्म का इस्तेमाल करते हैं। इस प्लेटफॉर्म पर आधार कार्ड, इंशोरेंस लेटर, इनकम टैक्स रिटर्न, मार्कशीट जैसे कई डॉक्यूमेंट्स को स्टोर किया जाता है।

Google Removes Viral Indian App That Deleted Chinese Ones: 10 Points

2020-06-03T14:04:00.000+05:30

“Remove China Apps” led the top free apps chart on Google Play

“Remove China Apps” application had over 50 lakh downloads before getting pulled.

Google has pulled an app from its Google Play store that helped users identify and remove apps of Chinese origin. The Mountain View, California-based company told Gadgets 360 that the “Remove China Apps” application violated Google Play policy. Before getting removed from Google Play, the app – developed by Jaipur-based OneTouch AppLabs – clocked over 50 lakh downloads in just over two weeks of its launch. It is the second viral app from India to be pulled from Google Play in a matter of days. Google has earlier removed Mitron, a TikTok clone.

Here are the top 10 points you need to know about this big story:

➡ Google told Gadgets 360 that “Remove China Apps” application was violating its Deceptive Behaviour policy. The policy highlights various things that apps listed on Google Play can't do but one specific point is relevant in the case of “Remove China Apps” story. Google says it doesn't allow “apps that mislead users into removing or disabling third-party apps or modifying device settings or features.”
➡ While the app from OneTouch AppLabs claimed to be developed for “educational purposes,” it was capitalising on the anti-China sentiment prevalent across the country right now. The anti-China sentiment in the country has been sparked by the novel coronavirus pandemic, India-China border dispute, and more. A survey recently indicated that 67 percent of Indians hold China responsible for the spread of COVID-19.
➡ Remove China Apps made its debut on the Google Play store on May 17 and was downloaded over 50 lakh times before getting pulled, as per data from Google Play. It was not available on Apple App Store for iPhone users. Android is the prevalent mobile operating system in the country and as per StatCounter, it is used by 95 percent of mobile phone users in the country.
➡ The app also led the top free apps chart on Google Play and remained there for at least two days. After the removal of the app, Zoom is back on top of free apps list on Google Play, followed by government's contact-tracing app Aarogya Setu.
➡ Remove China Apps allowed users to identify and remove apps that were of Chinese origin on their smartphones. While it was able to identify popular apps, including the likes of TikTok, ShareIt, UC Browser, and CamScanner, from Chinese developers, it didn't detect apps that come pre-installed on phones from Chinese manufacturers. Remove China Apps was free and fairly easy to use, and didn't include any advertisements.
➡ To use the app, the Android users simply had to install it from Google Play store and give the necessary permissions. Following which, the users just had to tap on Scan Now to scan their phone and the app would list all the Chinese-origin apps installed on the phone. The app would also give a delete icon next to every app which when tapped would uninstall the app from user's smartphone. The app claimed to use market research data to identify which apps were of Chinese-origin.
➡ OneTouch AppLabs has remained tightlipped about the app and hasn't responded to media requests. It used Twitter and its website to announce the removal of “Remove China Apps” from Google Play late-Tuesday and simply wrote – “Google has suspended our #RemoveChinaApps from google play store. Thank you all for your support in past 2 weeks.”
➡ Apart from India, the Remove China Apps application was also gaining momentum in Australia, where according to data from App Annie, the app had topped the Tools section in Google Play store. Still, the majority of the app's users resided in India. Even though the app has been removed from Google Play store, it will continue to function on phones that already have it installed.
➡ Remove China Apps' removal comes soon after Google had pulled the Mitron app from Google Play store. Mitron was a clone of TikTok that also benefitted from anti-China sentiments and also saw lakhs of downloads. Despite issues the app still managed to find traction among users and went viral.
➡ TikTok, a popular short-video app, was also in news recently, in part because of the anti-China sentiment. TikTok is developed by ByteDance, a company that is headquartered in Beijing. Scores of smartphone users in the country took to Google Play and Apple App Store to downrank the app. Notably, apart from anti-China sentiments, the other key reasons for the 1-star rating flood were the ongoing YouTube vs TikTok debate on social media as well as a video glorifying acid attacks from a TikTok user.

Jio Phone यूज़र्स का बदलेगा WhatsApp चलाने का अंदाज़, मिलेगा यह नया फीचर

2020-06-03T11:00:00.000+05:30

Jio फीचर फोन में भी डाल सकेंगे WhatsApp स्टेटस

Jio Phone यूज़र्स को सितंबर 2018 में व्हाट्सऐप फीचर मिला था, जिसकी अधिकारिक घोषणा जुलाई में की गई थी। इसके अलावा Nokia 8110 4G के लिए भी व्हाट्सऐप सपोर्ट को पिछले साल अप्रैल में लॉन्च किया गया था।

Jio Phone में अब WhatsApp स्टेटस लगाने की सुविधा मिलेगी। इसकी जानकारी एक ताज़ा रिपोर्ट के जरिए मिली है। जियो के फीचर फोन में यह स्टेटस फीचर की सुविधा बिल्कुल वैसे ही काम करेगी, जैसे कि किसी एंड्रॉयड या फिर आईफोन डिवाइस में करती है। आपको बता दें, रिलायंस जियो फोन में व्हाट्सऐप की सुविधा 2018 में कुछ सीमित सुविधाओं के साथ शुरू की गई थी। जियो फोन में व्हाट्सऐप की सुविधा के कई महीने बाद यह ऐप Nokia 8110 4G में भी पहुंच गई थी, जो कि एक अन्य KaiOS आधारित स्मार्ट फीचर फोन है। पिछले साल जुलाई में ऐलान किया गया कि सभी KaiOS आधारित फोन में फेसबुक की स्वामित्व वाली कंपनी व्हाट्सऐप का विस्तार किया जाएगा।

KaiOS पर WhatsApp के लिए सॉफ्टवेयर इंजीनियरिंग लीड Joe Grinstead ने एंड्रॉयड सेंट्रल के एक इंटरव्यू में खुलासा किया कि Jio Phone के लिए व्हाट्सऐप स्टेटस फीचर “Gold Master” स्टेज्ड पर है, जिसका मतलब है कि यह फीचर रोलआउट होने के लिए बिल्कुल तैयार है। हालांकि, ऐसा नहीं है कि यह बहुत बड़ा फीचर है, लेकर फिर भी बड़ी संख्या के यूज़र्स के लिए यह काम का फीचर साबित हो सकता है।

Grinstead ने वॉयस कॉलिंग सपोर्ट का भी जिक्र किया, जो कि एंड्रॉयड स्मार्टफोन के लिए जनवरी 2015 में पेश किया गया था। उन्होंने कहा कि KaiOS ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम पर वॉयस कॉलिंग सपोर्ट लेकर आना काफी चुनौतीपूर्ण कार्य होगा। हालांकि, यह साफ नहीं है कि जियो फोन यूज़र्स के लिए व्हाट्सऐप पर वॉयस कॉलिंग सपोर्ट कभी लेकर आया जाएगा या नहीं।

आपको बता दें, जियो फीचर फोन यूज़र्स को सितंबर 2018 में व्हाट्सऐप फीचर मिला था, जिसकी अधिकारिक घोषणा जुलाई में की गई थी। इसके अलावा Nokia 8110 4G के लिए भी व्हाट्सऐप सपोर्ट को पिछले साल अप्रैल में लॉन्च किया गया था। इस रोलआउट के कुछ हफ्तों बाद WhatsApp को सभी KaiOS आधारित फोन के लिए उपलब्ध करा दिया गया था।

Data Breach on CSC BHIM Site Puts 70 Lakhs Indians' Highly Sensitive Data at Risk: Report

2020-06-03T07:00:00.000+05:30

409GB worth of data was lying unsecured on cloud storage.

The vulnerability on CSC BHIM site was first detected on April 23 and it is said that the loophole was fixed on May 22.

Aadhaar cards, caste certificates, and other highly sensitive personal data of over 70 lakh Indians have reportedly been exposed by a government website. The CSC BHIM website, used to promote UPI payments app BHIM, reportedly suffered a massive data breach. The CSC e-Governance Service India is a program to bring digital access to villages, and the CSC BHIM project was launched to get merchants at the village level to start accepting UPI payments through QR codes. Apparently, a tremendous amount of data of Indian citizens was gathered on the site, and this information has now been breached.

According to Israeli cybersecurity company vpnMentor, 409GB of data of users in India have been exposed, which includes a huge amount of highly sensitive, personally identifiable information. The company said that the exposure of this user data is akin to a hacker gaining "access to the entire data infrastructure of a bank," along with users' account information. The vulnerability was detected first on April 23 and it is said that the loophole was fixed on May 22.

Based on the report so far, there is no evidence yet that the BHIM app itself was leaking data, or that the UPI system is insecure.

How was CSC BHIM data breached?

The report by vpnMentor claims that the data collected for BHIM deployment was being stored on a misconfigured Amazon Web Services S3 bucket and was "publicly accessible." This has been found to be a fairly common error that many websites make when setting up their cloud systems. As per vpnMentor, 409GB worth of sensitive data of individuals and several merchants were lying unsecured, therefore, exposing them to potential fraud, theft, and attack from hackers and cybercriminals.

Sensitive data of lakhs of Indians was stored in cloud storage without security protocols on the account to ensure safety.

"...the data was stored on an unsecured Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 bucket. S3 buckets are a popular form of cloud storage across the world but require developers to set up the security protocols on their accounts. The exposed S3 bucket was labelled 'csc-bhim,' and our team was quickly able to identify the developers behind the website 'www.cscbhim.in' as the owners of the data," claim Noam Rotem and Ran Locar, cybersecurity researchers at vpnMentor.

What all data was compromised in the CSC BHIM breach?

According to vpnMentor, the following were some of the personal documents that were found in the exposed S3 bucket:

Scans of Aadhaar cards – India's national ID
Scans of Caste certificates
Photos used as proof of residence
Professional certificates, degrees, and diplomas
Screenshots taken within financial and banking apps as proof of fund transfers
Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards (associated with Indian income tax services)

Aside from this, the leak also included UPI VPAs (transaction IDs) of people.

Impact of the CSC BHIM data breach

The cybersecurity company said that the data breach exposes highly sensitive data including individual's Aadhaar card information, caste certificates, proof of residence, professional certificates and degrees, and scans of Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards.

"Based on our research, the S3 bucket also contained documents and PII [Personally identifiable information] data for minors," company said. The cybersecurity company explains that having such sensitive financial data in the public domain would make it "incredibly easy to trick, defraud, and steal from the people exposed."

"The exposure of private data may also contribute to a broader deterioration of trust between the Indian public, government bodies, and technology companies," the company added.

What has the government said over the CSC BHIM data vulnerability?

The report states that the cybersecurity company reached out to the developers of CSC BHIM site to inform about the breach, however, no contact was established. The company then reached out India's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which deals with cybersecurity in the country on April 28 and the problem was reportedly rectified on May 22, without further response.

"Gadgets 360 has also reached out to the National Payments Corporation of India, and Computer Emergency Response Team for more clarity."

इस ऑनलाइन लर्निंग ऐप का डेटा लीक, करीब 2.2 करोड़ यूज़र्स की जानकारी खतरे में

2020-05-12T07:00:00.000+05:30

Unacademy भारत में एक बेहद लोकप्रिय ऑनलाइन लर्निंग ऐप है

Gadgets 360 को दिए एक बयान में Unacademy के सह-संस्थापक और सीटीओ ने डेटा ब्रीच की इस बात को स्वीकार किया है। हालांकि उन्होंने कहा है कि इस डेटाबेस में 11 मिलियन यूज़र्स का डेटा शामिल है।

भारत में एक लोकप्रिय ऑनलाइन लर्निंग प्लेटफॉर्म Unacademy के डेटाबेस को जनवरी में हैक किया गया था, जिसने लगभग 2.2 करोड़ यूज़र्स की जानकारी को जोखिम में डाल दिया है। अमेरिका स्थित साइबर सिक्योरिटी फर्म Cyble के अनुसार, एक हैकर ने Unacademy यूज़र्स के डेटाबेस में सेंध लगा कर यूज़र्स की जानकारी हासिल कर ली है और उन्हें 2,000 डॉलर (लगभग 1,51,800 रुपये) कीमत में डार्क वेब पर बेचना शुरू कर दिया है। डेटाबेस में कथित रूप से यूज़र्स का पहला और अंतिम नाम, अकाउंट का यूज़रनेम, हैश से छीपा हुआ पासवर्ड और ईमेल आईडी की जानकारी शामिल हैं। Unacademy ने एक बयान में इस ब्रीच (सेंध) की पुष्टि की है, हालांकि यह भी कहा गया है कि इसमें केवल 11 मिलियन यानी 1.1 करोड़ यूज़र्स की जानकारी शामिल हैं।

BleepingComputer की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, Cyble ने 3 मई को डार्क वेब पर खरीदारी के लिए उपलब्ध Unacademy डेटाबेस की खोज की। इस डेटाबेस में कुल 2,19,09,707 यूज़र्स के रिकॉर्ड शामिल हैं। इन रिकॉर्ड्स में न केवल यूज़र्स के यूज़रनेम और ईमेल एड्रेस की जानकारी शामिल हैं, बल्कि SHA-256 हैश्ड पासवर्ड, यूज़र्स के पहले और अंतिम नामों की जानकारी और अकाउंट सक्रिय है या नहीं, इसकी भी जानकारी शामिल है।

यह भी बताया गया है कि इस डेटाबेस में अंतिम यूज़र का अकाउंट 26 जनवरी का बना है। इससे पता चलता है कि हैकर ने इस डेटाबेस को Unacademy के सिस्टम से जनवरी महीने में चुराया है।

नियमित यूज़र्स की जानकारी के साथ ही Cyble ने यह भी पुष्टि की है कि इस डेटाबेस में कॉर्पोरेट ईमेल आईडी का इस्तेमाल करने वाले अकाउंट की जानकारी भी शामिल हैं। यह ईमेल आईडी कथित तौर पर कॉग्निजेंट, गूगल, इंफोसिस और विप्रो समेत कुछ अन्य कंपनी के हैं और यहां तक कि इसमें Unacademy की निवेशक कंपनी फेसबुक भी शामिल हैं। एक बड़ा डर यह है कि यदि कोई भी प्रभावित यूज़र अपने वर्कप्लेस पर भी उसी पासवर्ड का इस्तेमाल कर रहा था, जो उन्होंने इस ऐप पर साइन-इन करने के लिए इस्तेमाल किया था, तो हैकर उनके प्रोफेशनल अकाउंट तक भी पहुंच प्राप्त कर सकता है।

Unacademy के सह-संस्थापक और सीटीओ हेमेश सिंह ने Gadgets 360 को दिए एक बयान में डेटा ब्रीच की इस बात को स्वीकार किया है। हालांकि उन्होंने कहा कि आंतरिक जांच के अनुसार, केवल 11 मिलियन (1,10,00,000) यूज़र्स प्रभावित हुए थे, नाकि साइबल द्वारा रिपोर्ट किए गए लगभग 22 मिलियन यूज़र्स।

यदि आप भी है Unacademy यूज़र तो तुरंत उठाए ये कदम

यदि आप भी Unacademy प्लेटफॉर्म को इस्तेमाल करते हैं, तो अपने पासवर्ड को तुरंत बदलें। यदि आप अपने सभी ऑनलाइन अकाउंट में समान पासवर्ड का इस्तेमाल कर रहे हैं, तो आपको अन्य साइटों के पासवर्ड को भी बदलने की ज़रूरत है। इसके अलावा आप फ़िशिंग ईमेल से भी सावधान रहें।

Google, Gates Foundation Join Digital Payments Initiative - Mojaloop

2020-05-11T22:00:00.000+05:30

The initiative is aimed at bringing digital banking to those who lack access

The announcement aims to create an inter-operable system based on the Mojaloop software project.

A new non-profit charity unveiled plans Wednesday to promote digital payments for people outside the financial system, with support from Google and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Mojaloop Foundation said it would work on free and open-source software that can be used by disadvantaged communities and the unbanked around the world.

The initiative aims to serve an estimated 1.7 billion people who lack access to digital financial services, according to a statement by the organisation, which is also backed by Omidyar Network and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Mojaloop executive director Paula Hunter said the aim was to provide "more affordable, accessible digital financial services" to people outside the banking system.

The move comes amid an effort by the Facebook-backed Libra Association to create a new digital payments system to help make financial transfers easier and less costly for people outside the financial system.

The announcement Wednesday aims to create an inter-operable system based on the Mojaloop software project.

Named after the Swahili word for "one," Mojaloop is a reference model for payment inter-operability to barriers to money transfers large or small, the organisation said.

The open source software was first established by the Gates Foundation in 2017.

"Our vision of universal financial inclusion is a world where everyone, everywhere, can access and use the digital financial services they need to build economic security and resilience," said Kosta Peric, the chairman of the Mojaloop Foundation and deputy director of financial services for the poor at the Gates Foundation.

Zoom Allows Admins to Disable PMIs to Curb Zoombombing, More Security Updates Coming Soon

2020-05-11T18:00:00.000+05:30

Zoom meeting app has become the go-to app during the coronavirus pandemic

Zoom in a blog post said that new updates will roll out starting May 9.

Zoom has lately become the go-to app for video conferencing owing to the coronavirus pandemic. But the company has been in the spotlight for numerous security and privacy issues. Previously, several research papers had pointed out loopholes on Zoom that put users' private data at risk. Other risks involve the malicious practice of Zoombombing, that essentially means unwanted intrusion into a video conference call by an individual. In a new blog post, Zoom is claiming that the company wants to curb Zoombombing via personal meeting IDs (PMIs). The company is rolling out a new update that allows admins to disable PMIs for scheduling or starting instant meetings.

In the blog post, Zoom claimed that disabling the use of PMIs will reduce the risk of unwanted people joining a meeting. If the option is disabled, people will be required to join a video call with a random generated meeting ID that can further be protected by a password.

"Because PMIs are always accessible using the same ID or meeting link, anyone can join unless they're properly secured. Disabling the use of PMIs reduces that risk altogether and doesn't leave PMI security up to individual users," Zoom said in the blog post.

Zoom further stated that if any meeting is scheduled that can be joined via PMIs, users are advised to schedule a new meeting since old ones will become invalid. It was also highlighted that the option to disable PMIs can be locked at the account or group level.

"When PMIs are turned off, existing PMIs and personal links will become invalid and cannot be used to host a meeting. Users will get a message stating that “PMI is disabled” when accessing those meetings."

At the moment it is unclear whether the same feature will be rolled out to the Web version of Zoom as well. Currently, the option lies in the app version of Zoom.

Zoom also pointed out that starting May 9, the company will roll out more updates for the free Basic account users. These include:

Passwords will be required for all meetings, including new meetings, -previously scheduled meetings, and those using PMI

Waiting Rooms for PMI will be turned on by default

Screen sharing privileges will be Host Only by default

"These enhanced protections will help enable our free users to securely meet right out of the box," Zoom said in the blog post.

Flipkart Reveals What India Is Shopping for as E-Commerce Resumes

2020-05-11T15:00:00.000+05:30

Indian are increasingly searching for trimmers, fans, ACs, etc.

People are paying attention to self-care and trying to work from home better.

Flipkart revealed the different items that Indians are looking for on the e-commerce site, as relaxing lockdown restrictions allow shopping to start again. Self-care and items to help work from home top the list, according to the e-commerce giant.

Since the beginning of the lockdown on March 25, only essential goods were allowed to be sold on e-commerce platforms. From May 4, platforms like Flipkart have been able to resume full-fledged operations in Orange and Green zone districts in India. Understandably, users rushed to buy the things that they needed, from mobiles phones to headphones to shoes, that were out of their reach for the past 40 days both online and offline.

Flipkart said that while staying indoors, people seem to be focusing more on self-care products, upgrading communication device to be able to work from home better, and taking up new hobbies. Anil Goteti, Senior VP at Flipkart said in a release that the demand for laptops, mobiles, headphones, air-conditioners, coolers, t-shirts, etc. has grown in Green and Orange zones.

As on May 4, consumers in India have been increasingly looking for personal grooming equipment. Trimmers have been one of the top-10 most searched products on Flipkart in the last two weeks and their demand has seen a 4.5 times increase since the beginning of April. Searches for headsets has doubled as people stay at home and work from home. Demand for mobiles phones on Flipkart continues to be there but the mid-premium range of phones has seen the biggest surge.

Flipkart said that customers have been searching for shoes 1.8 times more than sarees, meaning there has been an inclination among people during the lockdown towards a healthier lifestyle. Searches for fans, ACs, and LPG stoves have also more than doubled.

The consumers who couldn't buy the products that they needed until May 3 are able to do so now in areas that have been marked as Orange and Green zones. However, people in the Red zones will have to wait for further orders and until then, manage with only essential products.

Android 11 Developer Preview 4 Released, Beta Updates Delayed

2020-05-11T12:01:00.000+05:30

Google is hosting an event called ‘Android 11: The Beta Launch Show’ on June 3 to introduce new features for Android 11.

Android 11 Beta 1 is now slated to release in June

Android 11 beta release has been delayed to next month. Google has released the Android 11 Developer Preview 4, and has updated its rollout roadmap to announce that the beta updates have been postponed. The first Android beta update will be released in June, instead of the planned May release. Google is hosting an event called ‘Android 11: The Beta Launch Show' on June 3 to introduce new features for Android 11. The event will begin at 11am ET (8.30pm IST) and will be held online. It will detail all the new features and tweaks coming with the next big software update.

With Google I/O cancelled this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the company is looking to host this online show to introduce the Android 11 to the world. The ‘Android 11: The Beta Show' trailer has been released, and apart from outlining the software update, Google has teased that it will introduce a ‘host of other things' as well. On June 3, Google will unveil Android 11 features related to connectivity, control, safety, security, productivity, and accessibility. As mentioned, the ‘Android 11: The Beta Launch Show' will begin at 11am ET (8.30pm IST) and end at 12pm ET (9.30pm IST). This one hour event will also include a Q&A session with Google's Android VP, Engineering, Dave Burke and Senior Director of Product Management, Stephanie Cuthbertson. To ask questions during this session, users can tweet their queries with the hashtag #AskAndroid.

While the trailer mostly talks about Android 11 beta release, it also hints at an upcoming phone launch alongside, and if we were to speculate, it could be the mid-year Pixel 4a. The video trailer suggests that the event will see the launch other things as well, and then shows a picture of a phone on a newspaper cutting. This could mean a new smartphone launch alongside the Android 11 beta roll out. However, this is pure speculation from our end.

As we've already mentioned, Google has also dropped the fourth Android 11 developer preview for Pixel phones. Google was meant to end its developer preview releases in April and start with beta releases in May, but that has been now been postponed. The tech giant has delayed the launch of Android 11 beta updates to June. The first Android 11 beta is now slated to roll out on June 3, soon after the launch. The Android 11 Beta 2 is listed to now launch in July, while the Android 11 Beta 3 will be released in August. Google pegs the final release of Android 11 to be sometime in Q3 2020.

The Android 11 Developer Preview 4 is an incremental update for stability and performance to help developers plan final testing and releases. Pixel phone users on the Developer Preview 3 will receive Android 11 Developer Preview 4 over-the-air (OTA). The builds for all Pixel phones are also listed on the download page. Because this is an early build, it may be prone to several bugs. Thereby, it is recommended to not flash a Developer Preview on your primary device unless you know what you are doing.

Twitter Tackles 5G COVID-19 Conspiracy in the UK With Warning Prompt

2020-05-11T10:00:00.000+05:30

The theory, which has spread on social media, has resulted in attacks on mobile telecoms masts and abuse directed at engineers in Britain.

The 5G conspiracy theory has prompted the British government to step in

Twitter said on Wednesday that it would tackle the spread of damaging conspiracy theories linking mobile phone technology with the coronavirus with a prompt to direct people searching for 5G to British government-verified information.

The theory, which has spread on social media, has resulted in attacks on mobile telecoms masts and abuse directed at engineers in Britain. Scientists, phone companies, and the government have said it is completely untrue.

Twitter said the search prompt would inform users that the government had seen no link between 5G and COVID-19, and include a link to a government website with credible, factual and verified information in relation to 5G.

Katy Minshall, Twitter UK's head of government, public policy and philanthropy, said the move was the latest step in its focus on connecting people with authoritative information regarding COVID-19.

"Our partnerships throughout this pandemic have allowed us to take proactive steps in bringing people the information most relevant and useful for them," she said.

Facebook and Google have also taken steps to counter misinformation about COVID-19 on their platforms, however the social media companies have been criticised for not doing enough to counter misinformation.

Representatives from all three were questioned by lawmakers last Thursday about the steps they had taken.

The chairman of parliament's digital and media committee Julian Knight said the position they had adopted was "deeply unhelpful and failed in clarifying what they are doing to tackle the threat posed by record levels of misinformation and disinformation online about Covid-19, some of it deadly."

Facebook recently removed the official page of British conspiracy theorist David Icke, who has promoted the 5G theory, for violating its policies on harmful misinformation.

Google terminated Icke's YouTube channel for the same reason.

Firefox 76 for Windows, Mac, Linux Brings Better Password Security and Enhanced Zoom Support

2020-05-11T07:00:00.000+05:30

Firefox has made improvements to make passwords more secure.

Mozilla’s Firefox will allow users to easily do Zoom calls on the browser

Mozilla brought Firefox 76 for Windows, macOS, and Linux with new features and bug fixes on Tuesday. With the latest update of the Firefox Web browser, Firefox is making the protection of online account logins and passwords stronger. Firefox will display critical alerts in its Lockwise password manager if a saved website is breached. Moreover, if any of your accounts are involved in the breach and you have used the same password elsewhere, the Firefox will prompt you to change the password. You will also be able to use the Zoom app on Firefox now without any additional downloads.

Firefox has brought several changes and additions in the update. In addition to the features mentioned above, Firefox has also made the login credentials safer for users who share their devices with others. It will now require a login to your operating system account before showing your saved passwords. Firefox has expanded Lockwise's ability to generate complex passwords for more websites. The update by Firefox around securing login credentials is quite timely as there has been a surge in people staying online while working from home.

Firefox 76 brings support for Audio Worklets that allows complex audio processing. Because of this update, Zoom users will be able to video conference easily on the browser with additionally downloading anything. This change will also useful for the users in the current times as many people are using Zoom to communicate with their friends and co-workers. Additionally, Picture-in-Picture window can be expanded and can be brought back to its original size just by a double-click.

Firefox has also slightly changed the look of the address bar and expanded the bookmarks toolbar. It has also made some security fixes apart from some changes for developers.

Tinder to Add Video Chat Feature by End of June

2020-05-10T22:00:00.000+05:30

Tinder parent Match Group said the feature will be launched by the end of Q2 2020.

Tinder recently added Passport feature to the app

Tinder is planning to launch a one-on-one video chat feature within the app by the end of June. The development was shared by Tinder's parent company Match Group on Tuesday in its earnings release. At the moment, it is unclear how the company will prepare for the misuse of the feature as abuse and harassment are difficult to report for video calls. It is expected that the company is either making its own offensive image detection system or looking at a third party to provide one. The development also comes at a time that the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic has enforced lockdowns and social distancing across most of the globe, leading companies to take innovative routes to retain users.

According to the earnings report by Match Group, the video chat feature on Tinder will likely launch by the end of the second quarter of 2020. The introduction of this feature will also be a significant move, as this will create a ripple effect across several other dating apps. Similarly, the addition of video chat on Tinder will also change the way the users interact with others via the app. Currently, users fully rely on texting for communication. However, one of the positive sides of the feature is that users will be able to verify their matches, as profiles at times can come across as fake.

"Social distancing has required adaptations and pivots and has impacted our business because the manner in which singles engage with our products and start relationships has quickly evolved. We know that singles are adjusting their behaviours, and many are shifting to having dates virtually via phone or video," Match Group in its report said.

Moreover, the report also provided an analysis of Tinder's performance in the last few months, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. Match Group stated that in April, female users under the age of 30 on Tinder swiped 37 percent more compared to February. "Female usage and engagement is a key driver for a dating product's success and we are constantly trying to improve these metrics," the report said.

Match Group also added that between February to March, the company saw a decline in first-time subscribers. This got stabilised in April, the company added. It was also noted that first-time subscribers were "up meaningfully" for the same period year-over-year.

Earlier in March and thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tinder also rolled out the Tinder Passport that allows users to connect with singles all over the world. The feature is available to Tinder Premium users.

Vodafone Idea ने दोबारा लॉन्च किया डबल डेटा ऑफर, इस बार पूरे देश के लिए

2020-05-10T19:25:00.000+05:30

299 रुपये के प्रीपेड रीचार्ज के तहत यूज़र को 28 दिन तक की वैधता मिलती है, 449 रुपये के रीचार्ज प्लान में 56 दिन की वैधता दी जाती है और 699 रुपये के रीचार्ज प्लान पर 84 दिनों की वैधता मिलती है।

Vodafone Idea ने सबसे पहले मार्च में पेश किया था डबल डेटा ऑफर

Vodafone Idea ने एक बार फिर डबल डेटा ऑफर लॉन्च किया है। इस बार पूरे देश में। मार्च में शुरू हुआ यह ऑफर टेलीकॉम ऑपरेटर के सभी सर्कल में उपलब्ध था, लेकिन इसके बाद इसमें कुछ अपडेट किए गए और फिर इसे कुछ जगहों पर बंद कर दिया गया। इसके बाद यह ऑफर केवल 9 टेलीकॉम सर्कल में सिमट कर रह गया। इस ऑफर के तहत वोडाफोन और आइडिया के ग्राहकों को मौजूदा हाई-स्पीड डेटा पर अतिरिक्त डेटा दिया जाता है, जो कि 299 रुपये, 449 रुपये और 699 रुपये के प्रीपेड रीचार्ज प्लान पर उपलब्ध होता था। हालांकि, 399 रुपये और 599 रुपये वाला प्रीपेड प्लान कुछ ही सर्कल में मौजूद है।

Vodafone India वेबसाइट की लिस्टिंग के अनुसार, 299 रुपये, 449 रुपये और 699 रुपये के प्रीपेड रीचार्ज प्लान वाला डबल डेटा ऑफर अब पूरे भारत में उपलब्ध है। आइडिया ने भी अपनी वेबसाइट पर कुछ इसी तरह का अपडेट पेश किया है।

पहले कंपनी का 299 रुपये, 449 रुपये और 699 रुपये वाला यह डबल डेटा ऑफर 9 टेलीकॉम सर्कल में ही उपलब्ध था, जो हैं- दिल्ली, मध्य प्रदेश, मुंबई, कोलकाता, पश्चिम बंगाल, ओडिशा, असम, राजस्थान और जम्मू-कश्मीर।

आपको बता दें, सबसे पहले Vodafone Idea ने मार्च में अपना डबल डेटा ऑफर 249 रुपये, 399 रुपये और 599 रुपये के प्रीपेड प्लान के लिए लॉन्च किया था, जो कि लॉन्च पूरे देश में उपलब्ध था। हालांकि, पिछले महीने कंपनी ने 8 टेलीकॉम सर्कल में इस सुविधा को बंद कर दिया था। इसके कुछ समय बाद कंपनी ने इसमें से और 5 सर्कल को घटा दिया, जिसके बाद केवल 9 सर्कल्स में ही यह ऑफर लागू था। कंपनी ने इससे 399 रुपये और 599 रुपये के प्लान को भी हटा दिया था।

Benefits under the offer

वोडाफोन आइडिया की वेबसाइट पर जो लिस्टिंग है, उसके मुताबिक इस डबल डेटा ऑफर में ग्राहक को 2 जीबी अतिरिक्त हाई-स्पीड डेटा उपलब्ध कराया जाएगा और जिन रीचार्ज प्लान पर यह सुविधा मिलेगी, वो हैं- 299 रुपये, 449 रुपये और 699 रुपये के प्रीपेड रीचार्ज प्लान। हालांकि, इन प्लान में वैधता में अंतर दिया गया है।

299 रुपये के प्रीपेड रीचार्ज के तहत यूज़र को 28 दिन तक की वैधता मिलती है, 449 रुपये के रीचार्ज प्लान में 56 दिन की वैधता दी जाती है और 699 रुपये के रीचार्ज प्लान पर 84 दिनों की वैधता मिलती है। इन तीनों ही प्लान में अनलिमिटेड वॉयल कॉल और 100 एसएमएस प्रति दिन की सुविधा भी प्राप्त होती है। इसके अलावा इस प्लान के साथ वोडाफोन ग्राहकों को फ्री Vodafone Play और Zee5 का सब्सक्रिप्शन मिलता है और आइडिया ग्राहक को Idea Movies और TV app का एक्सेस प्राप्त होता है, वो भी बिल्कुल मुफ्त।

इस खबर की जानकारी सबसे पहले OnlyTech द्वारा दी गई। Gadgets 360 ने निजी तौर पर वोडाफोन और आइडिया साइट पर जाकर इसकी जांच की।

Aarogya Setu IVRS सुविधा लॉन्च, फीचर फोन और लैंडलाइन यूज़र्स को मिलेगा लाभ

2020-05-10T17:00:00.000+05:30

Aarogya Setu Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) एक टोल-फ्री सर्विस है जो कि पूरे देश में उपलब्ध है। इस सर्विस के लिए नागरिकों को एक टोल-फ्री नंबर पर मिस्ड कॉल करनी है, वो नंबर है '1921'

देशभर में अभी ज़ारी है कोरोना वायरस का कहर

स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय ने फीचर फोन और लैंडलाइन का इस्तेमाल करने वाले नागरिकों के लिए 'Aarogya Setu Interactive Voice Response System' लॉन्च किया है। यह आरोग्य सेतु ऐप की तरह ही है, जिसे डाउनलोड करने का आग्रह सरकार नागरिकों से कर रही है। इस ऐप की मदद से आप COVID-19 संक्रमण का पता कर सकते हैं और खुद को इस खतरनाक महामारी से दूर कर सकते हैं।

स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय ने सोमवार को बयान ज़ारी करते हुए बताया कि Aarogya Setu Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) एक टोल-फ्री सर्विस है जो कि पूरे देश में उपलब्ध है। इस सर्विस के लिए नागरिकों को एक टोल-फ्री नंबर पर मिस्ड कॉल करनी है, वो नंबर है '1921'। इस नंबर पर मिस्ड कॉल करने के बाद आपको वापस कॉल आएगा, इस कॉल में आपके स्वास्थ्य से जु़ड़े इनपुट्स लिए जाएंगे।

बयान के मुताबिक के पूछे जाने वाले सवाल आरोग्य सेतु ऐप से जुड़े हुए होंगे और आपके द्वारा दिए जाने वाले जवाब के आधार पर आपको एक SMS भेजा जाएगा, यह एसएमएस आपके हेल्थ स्टेटस की जनकारी देगा और अगर हालत गंभीर हुई तो यह आपको सुधार का अलर्ट भी ज़ारी करेगा।

नागरिकों द्वारा दिया गया इनपुट आरोग्य सेतु डेटाबेस का हिस्सा बनेगा और और इस जानकारी के आधार पर लोगों को अलर्ट ज़ारी किया जाएगा और अपनी सुरक्षा के लिए उन्हें अलर्ट भेजा जाएगा।

स्वास्थ मंत्रालय ने नागरिकों से अनुरोध किया है कि वह अपने-अपने मोबाइल फोन में इस ऐप को डाउनलोड करें और इसकी सहायता से नोबल कोरोना वायरस के खतरे से दूर रहें। देशभर में अब कर इस खतरनाक वायरस ने करीब 1700 लोगों की जान ली है और इससे 50,000 से ज़्यादा लोग संक्रमित हैं।

हालांकि, मंत्रालय ने यह भी दावा किया है कि अब तक 9 करोड़ नागरिकों ने आरोग्य सेतु मोबाइल ऐप को अपने फोन में डाउनलोड किया है। वहीं, अब जिन लोगों के पास स्मार्टफोन नहीं है, जैसे जो लोग फीचर फोन व लैंडलाइन का इस्तेमाल करते हैं उनके लिए भी सरकार ने IVRS के जरिए इस सुविधा को पहुंचा दिया है।

#IndiaFightsCorona:#AarogyaSetu IVRS services implemented to cater to people having feature phone or landline.
Details here:https://t.co/NqjXUJ6YZQ #SwasthaBharat #COVID19 @PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @COVIDNewsByMIB @CovidIndiaSeva @DDNewslive
— Ministry of Health 🇮🇳 #StayHome #StaySafe (@MoHFW_INDIA) May 6, 2020

आरोग्य सेतु ऐप एंड्रॉयड यूज़र्स के लिए गूगल प्ले स्टोर और आइफोन यूज़र्स के लिए IOS ऐप स्टोर पर उपलब्ध है। यह ऐप अंग्रेजी के अलावा 10 भारतीय भाषाओं को सपोर्ट करता है।

NFC May Soon Be Used to Charge Small Devices Wirelessly; Smartphones May Get Reverse Wireless Charging

2020-05-10T15:00:00.000+05:30

WLC technology leverages the power transfer during an NFC connection to charge small battery-powered devices.

WLC is ready for market adoption

NFC charging could mean that your next phone charges up your earbuds or smartwatches wirelessly. NFC or Near Field Communication is a wireless technology present in many phones that allows them to connect or interact with other devices, like pairing a bluetooth speaker by tapping your phone on it. The NFC Forum, which is responsible for the technology, has now unveiled a new standard, the Wireless Charging Specification (WLC), that will allow smartphones or chargers with NFC to power devices at 1W.

Till now, smartphone manufacturers have had to develop proprietary tech for their phones to allow ‘reverse wireless charging'. With the development of the WLC, it's likely to become a much more standardised part of smartphones, going forward.

As per the press release posted on the NFC Forum website, the association has approved and adopted the WLC, that will allow devices with NFC to charge other smaller “battery-powered consumer and IoT devices” at up to 1W. While this charging speed might not sound impressive, it is sufficient enough to charge devices like smartwatches, wireless ear buds, and other such devices in a decent amount of time.

Notably, this WLC technology was published last year as a Candidate Specification and after a validation process, it has been published as an adopted Technical Specification and is ready for market implementation. The press release states there are an estimated 36 billion IoT devices in use and many of these will be able to charge wirelessly using WLC. As of now, there is no timeline for when this technology will hit the market.

How it works

WLC enables a single antenna in an NFC-enabled device to manage both communications and charging. This specification uses the 13.56MHz base frequency and makes use of NFC link to control the power transfer. To provide a constant carrier signal, NFC allows transfer of power to an NFC tag for communication. WLC uses this functionality to enable wireless charging at 1W.

What does this mean?

Theoretically, it can allow any phone with NFC to charge any smaller device that allows wireless charging. This means just like Samsung's Powershare, other devices will also be able to “reverse wireless charge” devices like smartwatches, true wireless earbud cases, and several other devices.

Koichi Tagawa, chair, NFC Forum, said, “NFC wireless charging is truly transformative because it changes the way we design and interact with small, battery-powered devices as the elimination of plugs and cords enables the creation of smaller, hermetically-sealed devices.”

Apple, Sony, and Google are NFC Forum sponsors while Samsung is a principal member. When it comes to Apple, the company planned on adding bilateral charging for the iPhone 11 but it was later reported that the company will not be integrating this feature.

Twitter Testing New Changes in Threaded Conversation Layout on iOS, Web

2020-05-10T12:30:00.000+05:30

The new layout will make it easier for users to follow conversations on Twitter.

Twitter’s new conversation layout will clearly indicate that a reply is meant for a specific tweet

Twitter is testing new changes to the layout of the threaded conversation for its iOS and Web users, the social media company said in a tweet. The changes will make the conversations more organised through “lines and indentations” that will make it clear that a reply is meant for a particular tweet. The feature is expected to especially make long conversations with many replies easier to follow. The feature was previously tipped by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong last month when she shared a GIF showing the same layout on Twitter that has been announced by Twitter now.

Twitter announced, “Some of you on iOS and Web will see a new layout for replies with lines and indentations that make it clearer who is talking to whom and to fit more of the convo in one view.”

The GIF shared by Twitter along with the post shows that when a tweet is selected, its replies can be seen below. In case there are replies to those “reply tweets”, a “show replies” button comes up. Clicking on the button expands the reply tweet and further conversations become visible in threads. The new layout is expected to make responding to the tweets easier and the whole experience clutter-free.

Your conversations are the 💙 of Twitter, so we’re testing ways to make them easier to read and follow.

Some of you on iOS and web will see a new layout for replies with lines and indentations that make it clearer who is talking to whom and to fit more of the convo in one view. pic.twitter.com/sB2y09fG9t
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) May 5, 2020

It is also noticeable that unlike now, the reply, retweet, and like buttons for a reply to a tweet have gone behind an extra tap.

As mentioned above, Jane Manchun Wong had already mentioned about the changes in early April.

According to TechCrunch, Twitter had been testing these features for over a year in Twitter's prototype app, Twttr, trying a variety of styles.

Back in February, Twitter had announced that it is “exploring new ways to make the conversations you care about easier to read, understand, and join”. It had asked people willing to try the new interface to be a part of the Twitter Prototype Programme.

Aarogya Setu ऐप 9 करोड़ लोगो ने किया डाउनलोड, सरकार का दावा

2020-05-10T10:30:00.000+05:30

हाल ही में एक फ्रांसीसी हैकर ने दावा किया कि Aarogya Setu ऐप में एक "सिक्योरिटी लूपहोल" है, जिसने करोड़ों भारतीयों की प्राइवेसी को दांव पर लगा दिया है। हालांकि सरकार ने इस दावे को सिरे से नाकार दिया है।

Aarogya Setu ऐप को गूगल प्ले स्टोर और ऐप्पल ऐप स्टोर से डाउनलोड किया जा सकता है

Aarogya Setu ऐप को 2 अप्रैल को कॉन्टेक्ट ट्रेसिंग ऐप के रूप में लॉन्च किया गया था। ऐप को कोविड-19 से लड़ने के लिए तैयार किया गया है। यह ऐप यूज़र के मोबाइल पर ब्लूटूथ और जीपीएस का इस्तेमाल कर उसे आसपास के अन्य कोरोनावायरस संक्रमित यूज़र की जानकारी देता है। लॉन्च के कुछ दिनों के अंदर ही आरोग्य सेतु ऐप को करोड़ो बार डाउनलोड कर लिया गया था और अब लेटेस्ट जानकारी के मुताबिक, इस ऐप 4 मई तक 9 करोड़ से अधिक लोगो ने डाउनलोड कर लिया है। इसकी एक वजह यह भी है कि हाल ही में सराकर ने इस ऐप को सभी सरकारी और निजी सेक्टर के कर्मचारियों के लिए अनिवार्य कर दिया गया था।

COVID-19 पर हुई ग्रुप ऑफ मिनिस्टर्स (GoM) की 14वीं बैठक के दौरान मंगलवार को अधिकारियों ने इस खबर की जानकारी दी। इस बैठक में अधिकारियों ने आरोग्य सेतु ऐप के "प्रदर्शन, प्रभाव और लाभ" से संबंधित विभिन्न पहलुओं पर भी चर्चा की।

जैसा कि हमने बताया कि आरोग्य सेतु मोबाइल एप्लिकेशन यूज़र्स को यह पहचानने में मदद करता है कि उन्हें COVID-19 का खतरा है या नहीं। यह कोरोनोवायरस और इसके लक्षणों से बचने के तरीकों सहित लोगों को कई महत्वपूर्ण जानकारी भी प्रदान करता है। हालांकि लॉन्च के बाद से ही कुछ ग्रुप्स ने इस ऐप को यूज़र्स की प्राइवेसी के लिए खतरा बताया और इसकी आलोचना की।

इतना ही नहीं, फ्रांस के एक सिक्योरिटी रिसर्चर Robert Baptiste ने दावा किया कि Aarogya Setu ऐप में एक "सिक्योरिटी लूपहोल" यानी एक ऐसी समस्या शामिल है, जिसने करोड़ों भारतीयों की प्राइवेसी को दांव पर लगा दिया है। रिसर्चर ने मंगलवार को सरकार के कॉन्टेक्ट ट्रेसिंग ऐप में कथित सुरक्षा मुद्दे के बारे में सरकार और उसके 1.67 लाख से अधिक फॉलोअर्स को सूचित करने के लिए ट्वीट किया। हालांकि यह भी पता चला है कि भारतीय कंप्यूटर आपातकालीन प्रतिक्रिया टीम (CERT-In) और राष्ट्रीय सूचना विज्ञान केंद्र (NIC) ने समस्या को समझने के लिए इस हैकर को तुरंत संपर्क भी किया और बाद में इस हैकर के दावे का खंडन कर दिया।

इस नैतिक हैकर द्वारा इस ऐप में संभावित सुरक्षा समस्या का दावा किए जाने के बाद और विपक्षी कांग्रेस नेताओं की आलोचनाओं के बाद बुधवार को सरकार ने कहा कि आरोग्य सेतु में कोई डेटा या सिक्योरिटी लूपहोल नहीं है।

Aarogya Setu App Absolutely Robust in Terms of Privacy Protection, Security of Data: Prasad

2020-05-10T07:00:00.001+05:30

The government said no security breach has been identified in Aarogya Setu after an ethical hacker raised concerns about a potential security issue.

Ethical Elliot Alderson had claimed that "a security issue has been found" in the app

Rejecting charges by the opposition that the Aarogya Setu application breaches privacy, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has asserted that the platform is "absolutely robust, safe and secure" in terms of privacy protection and data security.

"This is a technological invention of India -- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, our scientists, NIC, NITI Aayog, and some private (entities) -- whereby it is a perfectly accountable platform to help in the fight against COVID-19," Prasad told PTI.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the Aarogya Setu app is a "sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a private operator, with no institutional oversight."

He also said it raises serious data security and privacy concerns.

"Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent," Gandhi had said.

Countering the claim, Prasad said, "It is safe and secure. The data is in an encrypted form. Most important, it is for safety of Indians in public interest because it cautions you in the event there is a COVID-infected person in your vicinity."

The minister said the mobile application also helps tracing contacts in the event a person is infected.
"It is a very robust invention of technology and many other countries are using similar applications to fight COVID-19. And the second most important point is that the data is limited. Routine data remains for 30 days and in the event you are infected, then (for) 45 to 60 days. Then automatically it will vanish," he explained.

Prasad said there is always an option to scratch the app out of the phone or uninstall it.

"Then what is this hangama all about. The country has understood its utility and has willingly accepted it," he said.

The Aarogya Setu app is for smartphones.

"For feature phones we have developed Aarogya Setu IVRS. The app is absolutely robust in terms of privacy protection and safety and security of data," he said.

It is now mandatory for all government and private sector employees attending office to download the app, according to a Union Home Ministry directive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urging people to download the Aarogya Setu app, saying it is a fantastic use of technology to combat coronavirus.

"Tracks the spread of COVID-19 and notifies you if someone around you is suffering from it. Also lists help-desk numbers of various states," he had said in a series of tweets last month.

Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday said no data or security breach has been identified in Aarogya Setu after an ethical hacker raised concerns about a potential security issue in the app.

On Tuesday, French hacker and cyber security expert Elliot Alderson had claimed that "a security issue has been found" in the app and that "privacy of 90 million Indians is at stake".

Dismissing the claims, the government said "no personal information of any user has been proven to be at risk by this ethical hacker".

Amazon Prime मेंबर्स को मिलने वाला है मुफ्त गेमिंग का मज़ा

2020-05-09T20:30:00.000+05:30

अमेज़न प्राइम मेंबर्स के लिए बेनेफिट्स में Stadium Unlock for World Cricket Championship 2, 50 Gold and 10K Cash for Mafia City, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, और Mystery Box from Words With Friends 2 उपलब्ध होंगे।

Amazon ने इस ऑफर के लिए किया है टाइ-अप

Amazon Prime के इंडियन यूज़र्स के लिए गेमिंग बेनेफिट उपलब्ध कराया गया है, जिसमें इन-गेम कॉन्टेंट, अपग्रेड्स और इन-गेम करेंसी आदि का फ्री एक्सेस शामिल है। Amazon ने इसके लिए कुछ मोबाइल गेम डेवलपर्स के साथ भी टाइ-अप किया है, जो कि अमेज़न प्राइम मेंबर्स के लिए प्राइम-स्पेशल टूर्नामेंट गेम बनाने का काम करेंगे। अगर आप अमेज़न प्राइम सब्सक्राइबर हैं, तो आपको कंपनी का यह गेम बेनेफिट मिलेगा, जिसकी लिस्ट में Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Words With Friends 2, Mafia City, और World Cricket Championship 2 जैसे गेम्स शामिल हैं। इसके अलावा आपको अमेज़न प्राइम अकाउंट पर साइन-इन करने पर फ्री में इन-गेम कॉन्टेंट भी मिलेगा, जिसमें Black Desert Mobile और The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross जैसे गेम शामिल हैं।

Amazon ने इसके लिए एक माइक्रोसाइट भी बनाई है, जिसमें प्राइम मेंबर्स के लिए सभी गेम को लिस्ट किया गया है। इस साइट पर जाकर आप सभी फ्री कॉन्टेंट भी देख सकते हैं, अमेज़न ऐप के द्वारा आपको अपना पसंदीदा मोबाइल गेम भी मिल सकेगा।

How to avail gaming benefits on Amazon Prime membership

उपलब्ध गेम बेनेफिट्स का लाभ उठाने के लिए आपको अपने एंड्रॉयड या फिर आईओएस डिवाइस में प्राइम मेंबर्स के लिए लिस्टेड गेम को डाउनलोड करना होगा। गेम डाउनलोड होने के बाद आपको Amazon Prime members बेनेफिट्स बैनर पर टैप करना होगा। टैप करने के बाद आपको Login With Amazon बटन पर क्लिक करना है। पॉप-अप स्क्रीन पर आपको अपने अमेज़न प्राइम क्रेडेंशियल्स का इस्तेमाल करके लॉग-इन करना होगा। इसके बाद आप रीडायरेक्ट अमेज़न पेज़ पर पहुंचा जाएंगे, जहां आप allow पर क्लिक करना है। इसके बाद आपको अपना प्राइम मेंबर रिवॉर्ड दिखेगा। आपको बस Claim! पर टैप करना है इसके बाद उपलब्ध गेम आपके आकाउंट पर उपलब्ध हो जाएगा।

Amazon ने इस ऑफर के लिए किया है टाइ-अप

Limited goodies initially

अमेज़न प्राइम मेंबर्स के लिए बेनेफिट्स में Stadium Unlock for World Cricket Championship 2, 50 Gold and 10K Cash for Mafia City, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, और Mystery Box from Words With Friends 2 उपलब्ध होंगे। कंपनी इसमें इन-गेम कॉन्टेंट जैसे Ludo King भी लाने तैयारी कर रही है और कंपनी का वादा है कि वह हर महीने इसके लिए नए गेम और कॉन्टेंट लॉन्च करेगी।

अमेज़न इंडिया के डायरेक्टर अक्षय साही ने अपने एक बयान में कहा कि वह लोकप्रिय गेम के लिए लगातार नए इन-गेम कॉन्टेंट इसमें जोड़ेंगे।

हालांकि, शुरुआती रूप से अमेज़न प्राइम मेंबर्स के लिए दी गई इन-गेम कॉन्टेंट लिस्ट में कुल 6 गेम शामिल हैं, जो है Black Desert Mobile, Legends: Bang Bang, Mafia City, The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, Words With Friends 2, और World Cricket Championship 2।

अमेज़न अपने इस कदम से Flipkart को कड़ी टक्कर दे सकती है, फ्लिपकार्ट के पास अपना गेमिंग सेक्शन है, जिसमें Snake Smash, Guess What, और Crazy Cannon जैसे गेम शामिल है।

Popular Google Doodle Games Brings Back Halloween Game for You to 'Stay and Play at Home'

2020-05-09T18:03:00.000+05:30

Popular Google Doodle Games are meant to help 'stay and play at home' during coronavirus pandemic. Wednesday's doodle is a simple Halloween game.

Popular Google Doodle Games: Halloween 2016 Google Doodle has you play as a wizard cat.

Popular Google Doodle Games series is an initiative by Google to promote gaming while staying indoors during the coronavirus lockdown. It started with a kids coding game called Coding for Carrots on April 27 and now, the latest doodle is a Halloween game that was first published in 2016. The newest of the popular Google Doodle games \is called Magic Cat Academy and originally published on October 31, 2016 to celebrate Halloween. It is a simple and fun game with multiple levels and marks the 8th game in this ongoing series of 10 games by the search giant.

How to play Google Doodle Halloween game

The Halloween game for Wednesday, May 6, changes the ‘Google' banner in accordance with the theme. The first ‘O' is dressed as a cat holding a wand while the second ‘O' is animated to be a ghost. Hovering over the animated Google banner shows “Stay and Play at Home with Popular Past Google Doodles: Halloween (2016)”

To play the Magic Cat Academy game, simply click on the animated Google banner and it show you search results for “popular Google Doodle games”. You will see the game show up with a ‘Play' button, click on it and you will see a short intro video to the game after which, it will teach you how to play. The mechanics of the Magic Cat Academy are simple, you have to draw the symbol that appears on top of the ghost with your cursor to defeat the ghost. And of course, it gets harder as you progress. As with previous popular Google Doodle games, the search results page that contains the Halloween 2016 Google doodle game shows all the games released so far, in a 'From the Google doodle archive' carousel. Two more are due to arrive.

Two more games remain in the series

Recap of Stay and Play at Home with Popular Past Google Doodles

As we mentioned the search results page also shows you all the games, out of 10, that have been revealed. As mentioned earlier, eight games have been revealed till now starting from April 27. The first game was Coding for Carrots, that was originally published in 2017 to celebrate 50 years of a coding language for kids called Logo. It has players drag and drop simple codes in the correct order to make their character, a rabbit, collect all the carrots.

Next, Google published the Cricket game from 2017 on April 28 that originally celebrated the start of ICC Champions Trophy. The game has you play as a cricket against a team of snails. As the batsman, all you have to do is click on the yellow swing button at the right time as the snail throws the ball.

On April 29, the search giant published a game called Fischinger from 2017 that was originally celebrated the 117th birthday of filmmaker and visual artist Oskar Fischinger. The game has been inspired from one of his quotes “Music is not limited to the world of sound. There exists a music of the visual world” from 1951. Fischinger (the game) shows you a large grid of diamond symbols and you can click on each individual diamond to make music. You can choose from four different instruments and click the grid in any order to make music, along with a visual representation for the sound. There are also options for adding effects like ‘delay', bitcrush', and ‘phaser'. You can change the tempo, use presets, and experiment with a few other options to create music as you like.

On April 30 came Rockmore. Originally published in 2016, Rockmore celebrated the 105th birthday of Clara Rockmore who was the most well-known Theremin performer. The game called Rockmore first gives you a tutorial on how to play the virtual Theremin and then let's you perform with a larger number of notes. You can also change the key, scale, octave, and waveform of the instrument.

The series continued on May 1 with Garden Gnomes, originally from 2018. At the time, it celebrated German Garden Day that pays homage to the creation and tradition of placing gnome figures in gardens to protect and decorate them. The game starts with an intro to the tradition and has you catapult different gnomes with different abilities as far as you can.

Then, on May 4, a game called Scoville was published. It was first made into a doodle in 2016 and at the time celebrated 151st birthday of Wilbur Scoville who was a chemist, award-winning researcher, professor of pharmacology, and the inventor of the scale to measure a pepper's “heat”. The game has you throw ice cream scoops at different pepper to counter the ‘heat' by clicking at the right time at the centre of a fast moving meter.

That was followed by Lotería on May 5. Lotería was first published in 2019 as a celebration of the traditional Mexican card game by the same name. The doodle is a virtual version of Lotería where you have to place the beans on a matching card. It is a multi-player game and required the players to click on ‘Lotería' when they have a complete row of beans on the board.

History of the Google Doodle Halloween 2016 game, and its reach

The Halloween game was first published by Google on October 31, 2016 as a celebration for Halloween. In its post describing Wednesday's doodle, Google shared that the doodle is available in most of Europe (including Russia, the UK, and Croatia), Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, parts of Africa, the US, Brazil, and the Philippines.

Google Doodle's reach across the globe

Popular Google Doodle games series

This initiative started on April 27 with the intention of entertaining people while they stay at home to curb the spread of coronavirus. Google says, “As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, people and families everywhere are spending more time at home. In light of this, we're launching a throwback Doodle series looking back at some of our popular interactive Google Doodle games!”

Wednesday's Halloween game is the eighth game in the series and two more games for Thursday and Friday are yet to be revealed.

MIUI 12 के लिए भारत में टेस्टिंग प्रोग्राम शुरू, ये यूज़र्स कर सकते हैं रजिस्टर

2020-05-09T16:12:00.000+05:30

Xiaomi ने MIUI 12 क्लोज़्ड बीटा टेस्टिंग के लिए रजिस्ट्रेशन करने वालो के लिए कुछ शर्तें भी रखी हैं। इनमें से एक यह है कि यूज़र्स को Mi India कम्युनिटी का एक सक्रिय सदस्य होना ज़रूरी है।

MIUI 12 को फिलहाल क्लोज़्ड बीटा टेस्टिंग में लॉन्च किया गया है

MIUI 12 को आधिकारिक तौर पर पिछले महीने चीन में लॉन्च किया गया था। शाओमी ने घोषणा की थी कि कंपनी जून से अपने स्मार्टफोन्स के लिए अपडेट रोल आउट करना शुरू कर देगी और अभी कंपनी फोन पर क्लोज़्ड बीटा अपडेट जारी करने पर काम कर रही है। MIUI 12 ग्लोबल ROM की घोषणा अभी नहीं की गई है, लेकिन Xiaomi ने नए एमआईयूआई 12 पायलट टेस्टिंग प्रोग्राम के लिए लोगों की भर्ती शुरू कर दी है। यह नया कार्यक्रम केवल कुछ डिवाइसों के लिए लॉन्च किया गया है और भारतीय Redmi K20 Series यूज़र्स MIUI 12 क्लोज़्ड बीटा की टेस्टिंग के लिए आवेदन कर सकते हैं।

शाओमी ने MIUI 12 पायलट टेस्टिंग प्रोग्राम की घोषणा करने के लिए अपने फोरम का सहारा लिया है। कंपनी Redmi K20 Pro और Redmi K20 पर MIUI 12 प्री-रिलीज़ बिल्ड के टेस्ट के लिए यूज़र्स को भर्ती कर रही है। इस प्रोग्राम के लिए आवेदन करने के लिए बीटा टेस्टर को इस टेलीग्राम ग्रुप में शामिल होना होगा और इस Google फॉर्म को भरना होगा। यह फॉर्म ईमेल आईडी, आपके पास मौजूद डिवाइस, आपकी टेलीग्राम यूज़र आईडी और आपके फोन के 'About Phone' सेक्शन के स्क्रीनशॉट समेत कुछ अन्य चीजों की जानकारी मांगता है। यूज़र्स 14 मई (रात 9 बजे आईएसटी) तक टेलीग्राम ग्रुप में शामिल होना होगा और 15 मई रात 9 बजे आईएसटी पर रजिस्टर करना होगा।

भारत में केवल रेडमी के20 प्रो और रेडमी के20 स्मार्टफोन यूज़र्स ही MIUI 12 पायलट प्रोग्राम में हिस्सा ले सकते हैं। हालांकि कंपनी ने ग्लोबल स्तर पर इसी तरह का एक कार्यक्रम शुरू किया है, जिसमें Mi 9, Mi 9T और Mi 9T Pro यूज़र्स भी आवेदन कर सकते हैं। योग्य यूज़र्स को ग्लोबल MIUI 12 पायलट प्रोग्राम के लिए आवेदन करने के लिए गूगल के इस फॉर्म को भरना होगा।

कंपनी सभी रजिस्ट्रेशन में से MIUI 12 पायलट प्रोग्राम के लिए कुछ यूज़र्स को चुनेगी। इन यूज़र्स को एक स्पेशल ओटीए अपडेट मिलेगा, जिसकी जानकारी केवल MIUI 12 टेलीग्राम ग्रुप के जरिए दी जाएगी। चुने हुए यूज़र्स को अलग MIUI 12 टेलीग्राम ग्रुप में जोड़ा जाएगा। Xiaomi ने रजिस्ट्रेशन के लिए कुछ शर्तों को भी लिस्ट किया है। उदाहरण के लिए, यूज़र्स को Mi India कम्युनिटी का एक सक्रिय सदस्य होना ज़रूरी है। प्रोग्राम के लिए आवेदन करने से पहले यूज़र्स को यह सुनिश्चित करना होगा कि डिवाइस लेटेस्ट ग्लोबल स्टेबल ROM पर चल रहा हो। टेस्टिंग के दौरान दिए गए ROM से संबंधित कुछ भी जानकारी लीक नहीं करनी होगी। इसके लिए बीटा टेस्टर को एनडीए पर हस्ताक्षर भी करना होगा। यूज़र्स को बीटा टेस्टिंग में निपुण होना चाहिए और साथ ही MIUI की भी समझ होनी चाहिए। इसके अलावा उसे फास्टबूट फ्लैशिंग और बूटलोडर को अनलॉक करना आना चाहिए।

'Dear Class of 2020' Is YouTube's Virtual Graduation Ceremony Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

2020-05-09T13:47:00.000+05:30

‘Dear Class of 2020’ virtual event will have musical performances from Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, and others.

‘Dear Class of 2020’ will be like a festival for students

‘Dear Class of 2020' is YouTube's graduation ceremony event that will be held on June 6. Students will not be able to attend graduation ceremonies in the current coronavirus pandemic, and so, a virtual graduation has been organised considering the safe social distancing norms. The announcement was made on YouTube's Twitter account where some details about the event were shared. ‘Dear Class of 2020' is a virtual graduation event hosted by YouTube to celebrate all the students graduating this year. The ceremony will be headlined by former President of the United States Barak Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. As the coronavirus lockdown has confined everyone in their homes, this is Google's way of celebrating the achievement of students.

As stated in the tweet, the Graduate #WithMe livestream event will start on June 6 at 12pm PST (12:30am IST) and have commencement speeches as well as musical performances. Speakers include Barak and Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Sec. Robert M. Gates, Sec. Condoleezza Rice, Malala Yousafzai, and the K-pop group BTS. The CEO of Alphabet and Google, Sundar Pichai, also shared news of his participation at the event through his Twitter account.

Musical performances from Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, Kelly Rowland, and others will take place. YouTube also said there will be a “surprise special guest”. There will also be a number of special appearances including AsapSCIENCE, Dude Perfect, The Try Guys, Kerry Washington, and more.

‘Dear Class of 2020' will be streamed on YouTube Originals channel and the Learn@Home website. According to a report by Engadget, YouTube plans on sharing more details about the June 6 event on May 17. It is expected to give the schedule for the events planned for ‘Dear Class of 2020' livestream. It also states that the K-pop group BTS will host a virtual after-party.

Facebook is also holding an event on May 15, with celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X, and more, and this event will be hosted by Oprah Winfrey, according to a report.

Additionally, a one-hour Graduate Together primetime special will be aired on ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC on May 16 at 8pm PT (8:30am IST) and as per a press release. The event will be livestreamed on TikTok, Facebook, Complex Networks, PEOPLE, YouTube, and more. According to the Graduate Together's Twitter account, Barak Obama and LeBron James will be among the key speakers at the event.

In these trying times, when people are forced to stay home to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the education systems has seen a major shift with classes being shifted online across the globe. This virtual graduation event is a way to continue the age old tradition of graduation ceremonies without breaking the social distancing regulations.

Huawei FreeBuds 3i True Wireless Earphones With Active Noise Cancellation Announced, Priced at GBP 90

2020-05-09T11:30:00.000+05:30

Here’s an affordable alternative to the Apple AirPods Pro.

The earphones have a claimed battery life of 3.5 hours per charge

Huawei FreeBuds 3i True Wireless Earphones have been announced by Huawei. The new true wireless headset will compete against the Apple AirPods Pro in terms of design and features, but are significantly more affordable than Apple's flagship true wireless earphones. Priced at GBP 90 (approximately Rs. 8,500) as against the AirPods Pro UK pricing of GBP 249 (approximately Rs. 23,400), the Huawei FreeBuds 3i true wireless earphones will go on sale on May 20 in the UK, and is expected to launch in other European markets as well in the coming weeks.

The Apple AirPods Pro is a rare product in the true wireless segment to have active noise cancellation, a feature typically only seen on high-end over-the-ear headphones. The Huawei FreeBuds 3i will bring the technology to consumers at a significantly lower price than that of the AirPods Pro, which is priced at Rs. 24,900 in India. For now, launch plans have only been revealed for the UK, but Huawei does have a strong market position in Mainland Europe as well and is expected to launch these true wireless earphones there as well. So far, the company has not revealed plans for bringing these earphones to India.

In terms of specifications, the Huawei FreeBuds 3i have 10mm dynamic drivers, and a three-microphone system for active noise cancellation and voice calls. Both earphones have capacitive sensors, with gesture controls for noise cancellation and playback. When used with a Huawei smartphone, the earphones offer quick pairing and setup. The earphones have a claimed battery life of 3.5 hours per charge, with the case offering an additional 14.5 hours of use.

With true wireless earphones now available across prices and styles, the next big step for the field is integrating high-end features into the small form factor of the device. Although Apple has a big head start when it comes to active noise cancellation, the high price of the AirPods Pro means that there is room for brands to come in and offer affordable alternatives. Huawei looks to be doing exactly that with the FreeBuds 3i, but it's unclear if the company will launch this product anywhere outside of Europe for now.

Google’s Webpage Warning About COVID-19 Related Online Scams Now Available in 4 Indic Languages

2020-05-09T10:00:00.001+05:30

Google’s classifiers have globally seen 18 million daily malware and phishing attempts related to COVID-19.

Google provides information about online risks and scams related to COVID-19 through its webpage

Google has added Indic language support to its dedicated webpage designed to help users avoid COVID-19 online security risks. As a result of the new move, the webpage, which is a part of the Google Safety website, is available in Bangla, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu languages in addition to the existing English and Hindi. The search giant brought the webpage last week with an aim to provide information about online risks and scams associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. A range of new scams including phishing emails posing as messages from charities and NGOs fighting the deadly disease has been detected by Google.

The latest update by Google has allowed users to visit the dedicated webpage in Bangla, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu languages. It provides the key points to spot and avoid online scams related to COVID-19. An image has also been featured on the webpage to give an example of how a phishing email falsely claiming to give a message about the pandemic can be seen. As mentioned, it was launched in English and Hindi last week.

Generally, phishing emails pose as messages from charities and NGOs battling COVID-19, directions from ‘administrators' to employees working from home, and even notices spoofing healthcare providers. These emails contain fake links that often imitate established websites by adding extra words or letters to them — check the URL's validity by hovering over it (on desktop) or with a long press (on mobile), taking care not to click any suspicious links, Google explains in a press note.

In addition to phishing emails, scammers may use SMS messages, automated calls, and malicious websites to catch their potential victims. Users are, therefore, advised to verify messages and calls they receive and avoid relying on random calls they get.

Google has provided tips to help users avoid COVID-19 related online scams

Google has placed its machine-learning classifiers to detect scams. The classifiers have globally seen 18 million daily malware and phishing attempts related to COVID-19, in addition to more than 240 million spam messages associated with the pandemic.

Last month, Google said that its Threat Analysis Group found hackers targeting international health organisations. Email and password details of nearly 25,000 healthcare workers at the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among others were also reportedly dumped on the Web last month.

Solutions to restrict COVID-19 scams
The webpage that was launched in English and Hindi earlier also emphasise on adding two-factor authentication (2FA) to online accounts. Also, it provides links to report potentially suspicious content and share the given tips with others to help eradicate COVID-19 online scams.