Month: August 2022

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US

Vincent, Alabama, disbands its police after an officer sent a racist text : NPR

Vincent, Alabama, disbands its police after an officer sent a racist text : NPR

VINCENT, Ala. — A racist text message sent by a police officer has prompted officials in a small Alabama town to disband their police department and fire the police chief and assistant chief.

Vincent Mayor James Latimore on Thursday confirmed that Police Chief James Srygley and Assistant Chief John L. Goss had been dismissed, al.com reported.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on Friday condemned the two officers’ actions and said it stands with the city “in providing emergency law enforcement related service to the citizens (of Vincent) at this time.”

In the message, which recently surfaced on social media, someone identified as “752″ texts: “What do y’all call a pregnant slave?” An unidentified recipient responds twice: “?” and “??”

“752″ answers: “BOGO Buy one, get one free”

“This has torn this community apart. It doesn’t matter what color we are as long as we do right by people,” City Councilman Corey Abrams said during Thursday’s council meeting.

On Tuesday, Latimore said “appropriate action has been taken” against the officer alleged to have sent the text, though at the time he would not name the person or anyone involved.

The city’s website lists three people in its department: Srygley, Goss and Officer Lee Carden.

During the council meeting, Latimore announced he had suspended the chief and assistant chief, and the council voted to end the agency. Latimer said Carden turned in his resignation via text message just hours after the city council voted to dissolve the department.

Located in central Alabama, southeast of Birmingham, Vincent has a population of just under 2,000 people. It’s located in Shelby, St. Clair, and Talladega counties.

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Technology

The Oppo A77 seems to be a phone that Oppo did not launch in 2020

The Oppo A77 seems to be a phone that Oppo did not launch in 2020

Oppo quietly unveiled the Oppo A77, their most recent phone, in India. The phone is available for Rs. 15,499 upon launch. You won’t find the finest chipset on the low-cost phone because it is an offline-focused device. Additionally, this Oppo phone won’t be in direct competition with products like Realme or Redmi. Even though it is a brand-new model on the market, it has the effect of making the phone appear dated.

But what does not look like it is since 2020 is the design of the phone. It comes with the latest design language of Oppo devices, with the squared-off sides and the camera array similar to other recent Oppo devices. Talking about the display, this phone comes with a 6.56-inch HD+ LCD display, that too with a 60Hz refresh rate. No other phone launched this year at this price comes with an HD+ display on this budget. Coming to the cameras, the phone comes with a dual camera setup consisting of a 50MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. And there is an 8MP selfie camera at the front.

The phone is available to buy from the Oppo store now(opens in new tab). It will soon be available on Flipkart and Amazon, but the availability on e-commerce platforms has not been officially announced. The phone will soon be available in all offline stores too. Oppo A77 is powered by Mediatek Helio G35 SoC. This might seem like a joke, but it’s not. The phone is indeed powered by a 2-year-old budget SoC. It is not at all comparable with other phones in the segment. Even phones under Rs. 10,000 have better chipsets such as Mediatek Helio G85, Mediatek Helio G88 and even Snapdragon 680.

The phone is backed up by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging. The 33W charging is one of the only features in this phone that keeps up with other phones on this budget. Another feature that is better than other phones is the presence of a stereo speaker setup. This looks like a typical Oppo phone used to launch back in the day. But Oppo currently has much better phones in the segment with similar pricing. Such as Oppo K10 and Oppo F19. Oppo even has similar features in a phone priced less than this phone, Oppo A16 and Oppo A57.

Abhijith specializes in phones, computing and everything Tech at Techradar. He is based out of Kerala. He has been writing about Tech since 2013, on his own blog. He also used to host a YouTube channel about phones.

But the reason why this phone seems like a phone from 2020 is that it is a phone meant to be sold in retail stores, and not online. Oppo’s A series has always been a series of phones aimed at the offline market. And the phones in this series usually come with mediocre specs for the price. We cannot expect much from the A series phones anyway. This phone reminds us that not much has changed with Oppo with their A series of smartphones, and its offline-centric pricing.

NewsSummary:

  • The Oppo A77 seems to be a phone that Oppo did not launch in 2020
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Sports

Michaell Purcell killed in car crash: Iprwich Jets and Brisbane Tigers

Michaell Purcell killed in car crash: Iprwich Jets and Brisbane Tigers

Queensland rugby league has been rocked after one of the State’s star players was tragically killed in a car crash at the age of 28.

Michael Purcell sadly lost his life on Sunday morning following a car crash in Brisbane.

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The star winger-fullback had played a total of 82 games for the Ipswich Jets and Brisbane Tigers, registering 68 tries and 22 goals.

Purcell, nicknamed “The Kangaroo Catcher” after he once was said to have chased down a kangaroo during a race, was one of the fastest players in Queensland.

His standout abilities on the field led to him receiving an NRL contract with the Melbourne Storm last year.

He joined the Storm for pre-season training before returning to Queensland and playing for the Brisbane Tigers in the Intrust Super Cup.

His death rocked the rugby league community with tributes flooding in following Sunday’s tragic crash.

“I am shattered, it’s so, so sad,” Ben Walker said to the Courier MailPurcell’s former coach at the Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup

“He was a really talented kid who definitely had the ability to play NRL.

“We got a tip about this kid playing reserve grade and his nickname was the ‘Kangaroo Catcher’ because the story went he was so fast he once chased down a kangaroo during a cross-country run in the bush.

“We signed him to the Ipswich Jets and he ended up scoring 66 tries in 71 games. He had incredible speed.”

Read related topics:Brisbane

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Categories
US

Surveillance video captures initial panic following overnight shooting in Over-the-Rhine

Surveillance video captures initial panic following overnight shooting in Over-the-Rhine

Surveillance video shows the initial panic of many patrons along Main Street as shots began to ring out overnight in Over-the-Rhine early Sunday morning. At least nine people were shot, police said in an update early Sunday morning. Cincinnati police said it happened at the corner of 13th and Main streets around 1:30 am According to police, that’s where one person fired into a crowd outside a bar. Authorities say the shooting occurred in the aftermath of an altercation between two groups, in which two people took out guns. Officials said a police officer discharged their weapon while responding to the scene. Police say they do not know if the shooter was hit but did say the shooter was actively shooting when the officer fired at them. All of the victims were found at the scene at the corner of 13th and Main streets.Police said none of the victim’s injuries were life-threatening.Video shows multiple people standing outside of and passing by The Hub when, all of a sudden, people begin to run by or into the Over-the-Rhine bar. The Hub owner Lindsey Swadner told WLWT that she heard upwards of 30 shots in two different rounds and said The Hub had not only bar patrons but people near the area looking for cover come in. A second camera angle, this one looking down from the archway, shows people rushing into the bar, and the bar’s door closing shut for an extra layer of security.

CINCINNATI—

Surveillance video shows the initial panic of many patrons along Main Street as shots began to ring out overnight in Over-the-Rhine early Sunday morning.

At least nine people were shot, police said in an update early Sunday morning.

Cincinnati police said it happened at the corner of 13th and Main streets around 1:30 am According to police, that’s where one person fired into a crowd outside a bar.

Authorities say the shooting occurred in the aftermath of an altercation between two groups, in which two people took out guns.

Officials said a police officer discharged their weapon while responding to the scene. Police say they do not know if the shooter was hit but did say the shooter was actively shooting when the officer fired at them.

All of the victims were found at the scene at the corner of 13th and Main streets.

Police said none of the victim’s injuries were life-threatening.

Video shows multiple people standing outside of and passing by The Hub when, all of a sudden, people begin to run by or into the Over-the-Rhine bar.

The Hub owner Lindsey Swadner told WLWT that she heard upwards of 30 shots in two different rounds and said The Hub had not only bar patrons but people near the area looking for cover come in.

A second camera angle, this one looking down from the archway, shows people rushing into the bar, and the bar’s door closing shut for an extra layer of security.

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Technology

DuckDuckGo to block Microsoft trackers amid backlash

The Siasat Daily: Latest Hyderabad News, Telangana, Entertainment, India

San Francisco: Following the May disclosure that the privacy-focused online browser DuckDuckGo permits Microsoft to track scripts on external sites, the platform now claims to begin banning those as well.

The platform said it was announcing more privacy and transparency around DuckDuckGo’s web tracking protections after community backlash.

“Over the next week, we will expand the third-party tracking scripts we block from loading on websites to include scripts from Microsoft in our browsing apps (iOS and Android) and our browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and Opera) , with beta apps to follow in the coming month,” the platform said in a blogpost.

M.S. Education Academy

DuckDuckGo said this expands its 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, which blocks identified tracking scripts from Facebook, Google, and other companies from loading on third-party websites, to now include third-party Microsoft tracking scripts.

This web tracking protection is not offered by most other popular browsers by default and sits on top of many other DuckDuckGo protections.

To further deliver on its commitment to transparency, the privacy-focused online browser said it has posted a new help page that offers a comprehensive explanation of all the web tracking protections we provide across platforms.

“Users now have one place to look if they want to understand the different kinds of web privacy protections we offer on the platforms they use,” the platform said.

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Categories
US

Lake Mead: More human remains found in receding waters

Lake Mead: More human remains found in receding waters



CNN
—

More human remains have been found in the receding waters of Lake Mead, authorities announced Saturday.

This is the fourth time human remains have been found at Lake Mead National Recreation Area since May.

In the latest incident, park rangers got a call Saturday morning about skeletal remains at Swim Beach area, National Park Service officials said in a statement.

Rangers set up a perimeter at the beach to recover the remains with help from divers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, according to the Park Service. A coroner was also called to determine the cause of death.

At least three different sets have previously been found at the lake, where water levels have plunged to unprecedented lows amid an unrelenting water crisis in the West.

The previous remains discovered, including a body that was found in a corroding barrel with a gunshot wound, were in advanced stages of decomposition and thus difficult to extract DNA from, officials said.

It’s unclear how long the latest remains found have been in the lake. The homicide division of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police is not currently handling the investigation, Lt. Jason Johansson told CNN.

The police department is, however, leading the investigation into a different body, one found in the barrel on the lake’s Hemenway Harbor on May 1. The body had an obvious gunshot wound and investigators immediately treated it as a homicide investigation, Johansson previously told CNN .

“Anytime you have a body in a barrel, clearly there was somebody else involved,” he said.

Since then, Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse has preliminarily ruled the cause and manner of death a homicide by gunshot. The remains, dubbed Hemenway Harbor Doe by the coroner’s office, belonged to someone who died in the mid-’70s to early ’80s, according to police.

A second set of remains – found on May 7 at Calville Bay – are believed to belong to someone who was approximately between ages 23 and 37, according to Rouse.

It’s unclear how that person died. The Calville Bay remains are more skeletal than the other two sets, which both still have organ tissue available for examination, Rouse said.

A third set of remains – found at the lake’s Swim Beach on July 25 – are only partial and are still at early stages of examination, according to Rouse.

The lake straddles the border of Nevada and Arizona.

While the grim discoveries in the shrinking lake quickly generated theories of mob involvement, Johansson said those ideas are “mere speculation” at this point in the investigation.

A National Park Service spokesperson told CNN one possible explanation for the remains could be that they belong to people who previously drowned at the lake when water levels used to be high.

At its height in ’80s, Lake Mead – the largest manmade reservoir in the country – was 1,225 feet above sea level. But as the mega-drought persists, water levels have plunged this year to the lowest level since the reservoir was filled in the 1930s.

Lake Mead was filled to just 27% of capacity as of July 18, 2022, according to NASA.

Water levels have plummeted so much that, in addition to several bodies, they have exposed a sunken World War II-era vessel, the Park Service announced in early July.

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Categories
Technology

Behold, The Telstra Phone Car That Time Forgot

Behold, The Telstra Phone Car That Time Forgot

I visited Adelaide this week, and while wine is top of everyone’s agenda when visiting the land of many grapes, one of the highlights for me was this phone car.

You see, dear reader, I am an excitable, hyperfixating mess when it comes to two things: cool, goofy tech and cars. So, imagine my excitement when I came across the “World’s Largest Mobile Phone”, built by none other than Telecom Australia, on a Volkswagen chassis?

This delightful automobile carries a history to it that I’d love to dig deeper into, but for now, I’ll entertain you with what I know.

This phone on wheels dates back to the 1980s (Despite saying 1992 on the side). It was built by Telecom Australia, which then became Telstra in 1995.

During the 1980s, it was used in a variety of Australian parades. The National Archives of Australia has this snap of the car from 1980 at Warana in Queensland.

Now, here’s where the history of the phone car becomes a bit of a mystery to me. As you’ll see in the images I snapped, the car as it appears in National Archives of Australia photos is slightly different. On the older version, you’ll see lights on the bottom, and on the newer version, you’ll see a hash key and an asterisk key.

You’ll also see different stickers placed across the car, though I suspect that much of this was a refresh in time for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona (of which Telecom Australia was an Australian Olympic Team Sponsor, as written on the phone car).

But allow me to entertain you with some recounted history from the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia, where the phone car is currently on display (by the way, car lovers, you need to go see the collection, it’s incredible).

“This car is a working phone,” the Australian Motor Museum has written beside the Telecom Australia Phone Car.

“It was built by Telecom on a Volkswagen Chassis. They used it for walls and other promotions during the late 1980s. At events, the car was linked to a phone line and the public were invited to press the buttons and call anyone in Australia.”

Well, hot dang, Telecom Australia. Innovation on wheels.

Would I like to drive the phone car? Absolutely. It may not be an electric car, nor would it go particularly fast, but I’m a sucker for things like this. Perhaps the legacy of the car phone lives on in Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which brings mobile phone connectivity to the modern vehicle.

Long live the phone car.

Categories
Sports

The game’s problem with small truths shows why it’s ill-equipped to handle large truths

The game's problem with small truths shows why it's ill-equipped to handle large truths

They were premieres less than a month later.

Nowadays, many in the football bubble (not all) forget clubs are accountable to fans, members, sponsors, donors and corporate backers, so their default position is to take themselves and what is really happening way, way too seriously. They adopt a different personality, depending on whether they are inside or outside the club’s multiple walls.

That does not mean confidentiality is not required in many circumstances, but club talk about teaching players to have the courage to express themselves and be true to who they are as an individual is shown as complete baloney when the ‘team is all that matters’ ethos is instantly invoked to help clubs cover up and scramble the narrative when a need for facing the truth becomes essential for a club to move forward.

Eddie Langdon spoke the truth. Surely he can't be doing the wrong thing.

Eddie Langdon spoke the truth. Surely he can’t be doing the wrong thing. Credit:Getty

The reaction from Melbourne’s hierarchy to wingman Ed Langdon’s comments that Collingwood was “a one trick pony” and “all duck no dinner” was instructive of a club’s ethos. Simon Goodwin applied a forceful message with a light touch.

“So Ed will put his hand up and say he got that wrong, but I don’t think we should criticize players for making mistakes when they go in the media,” Goodwin said.

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Goodwin seemed concerned that it may be constructed as disrespectful to Collingwood, but the effect of what he was saying was be careful with the truth.

That’s not a criticism of Goodwin because he could consider the comments either unhelpful to his immediate objective of beating the Magpies or legitimately want to protect his player from the barrage of comments that might come his way.

But the underlying sentiment or message (which many within clubs at every level have) is that what players say needs to be controlled.

Langdon’s comments were his truth and let’s face it, probably not far from the truth. They created a rare atmosphere around the game and gave supporters a much-needed reminder of what footy should be about.

McVeigh’s comments showed he has learned that honesty is the best policy.

We can see the Adelaide camp debacle as again being a failure of leadership, an example of outsiders being given too much access to players, and think it’s solved by removing and discarding those responsible people and improved integrity measures.

That might help in the short term, but such outrages will occur again until the game learns to handle the truth and respond appropriately to those who put their name to words.

The Western Bulldogs or the Saints or the Blues?

Which team would you rather be with two rounds remaining?

Carlton need just one win to make finals but could face their final two rounds against top four teams without their skipper Patrick Cripps.

Patrick Cripps (left) and Charlie Curnow of the Blues celebrate during a match against the Giants last month.

Patrick Cripps (left) and Charlie Curnow of the Blues celebrate during a match against the Giants last month.Credit:AFL Pictures

The Western Bulldogs needs to win both against bottom six teams but don’t seem to have a system that will push them far enough into finals to make 2022 anything else but a disappointment.

St Kilda aren’t good enough but if they beat the Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans they will have served a finals spot and everyone will assess the Saints with their glass half full.

All that assumes Richmond make it.

Blues, Bulldogs and Saints supporters may as well enjoy the thrill their run into the finals will provide because they won’t last long in September.

The Blues still have their destiny in their own hands, so they must make that fact a confidence booster as they attack their most important fortnight in a decade. And their fans, who have hit the panic button, need to calm down because it is not helping their team, who look scared to win.

Carlton are also on the up, having taken positive steps this season and their list is good. The Bulldogs have developed talent well, and with Liam Jones and possibly Rory Lobb arriving, and Sam Darcy and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan emerging will start better with an easier draw likely in 2023. But the defensive system needs tinkering.

The Saints list remains a worry and it could be that no matter what Brett Ratten does, they will remain a middle-table team with middle-ranking players.

The De Goey option to stay

Jordan De Goey is making it hard for Collingwood to imagine him playing for another club. His performance against Melbourne was his best game for the season as he arched the back and pumped his legs to find space that was so hard for most on the ground to find.

He is connected to teammates and his coach Craig McRae has made it clear he wants him to remain at the Magpies, but the football club’s wider remit and, let’s not forget, a series of off-field incidents have thrown doubts into the minds of those outside the football department as to whether he can fulfill his end of the bargain.

Jordan De Goey played his best game for the year on Friday night

Jordan De Goey played his best game for the year on Friday nightCredit:AFL Photos/Getty Images

If De Goey was prepared to take a short-term deal to stay with the club he seems comfortable with and stay surrounded by those who know him best, he may change the opinion of doubters and reveal his commitment to being a teammate and player they not only like but trust.

It would allow him to enjoy his football with a little less pressure than what would accompany him at a new club, all but ignoring those who walk the corridors of power unless he mucks up again. By then, if not already, he’d have no-one but himself to blame.

Port Adelaide: refresh or reset?

Ken Hinkley has been adamant that he will fulfill his contract to coach Port Adelaide in 2023, his connection to the players and coaching ability high after 10 seasons in charge where he has led the team to at least 10 wins a season (until this year when they have scrounged eight victories after losing their first five) and three preliminary finals.

Power coach Ken Hinkley understands pressure

Power coach Ken Hinkley understands pressureCredit:AFL Pictures

Good coaches are hard to find and, despite a vocal band of Port supporters complaining about Hinkley due to their non-appearance in a grand finale, Port would be silly to pull the pin on the basis that he has been there long enough.

However, it is incumbent on the club to communicate their plan beyond the end of next season and make necessary changes around the coach. They need to be certain they won’t flinch next season in their commitment to Hinkley if he continues because having a lame duck coach for a season is not used to anyone. A recommitment to Hinkley with a few fresh faces in support looks a logical approach after 2022.

One guarantee is that Hinkley will be honest with himself and the club about what lies ahead, which puts the club in a good place as they plan for next season and beyond.

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US

Los Angeles voters to decide if hotels will be forced to house the homeless despite safety concerns

Los Angeles voters to decide if hotels will be forced to house the homeless despite safety concerns

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Los Angeles voters will cast their ballot on a proposal that could force hotels to house the homeless, a policy that has many hotel owners concerned about how it will impact public safety.

President of the Northeast Los Angeles Hotel Owners Association Ray Patel joined “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Sunday, to discuss why the policy is not a long-term solution and his concern if the policy is adopted.

“This is not a solution, it’s just a temporary fix,” Patel told co-host Carley Shimkus. “And during Project Roomkey, a great example, they housed the unhoused in the hotels – but the government never provided an end solution. They never provided transitional services to permanent housing; and simply issuing hotel vouchers impacting our hotels and our marketability of those rooms to the pain tourist, corporate travelers and locals is not a solution now.”

LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL APPROVES MEASURE TO BAN HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS NEAR SCHOOLS

Patel touted the COVID-era program to secure housing for the homeless, but stressed his concern surrounding how the policy would impact public safety as crime continues to spiral out of control.

If passed, the voucher program would require hotels to send information on their vacant rooms for the day by 2 PM daily, but Patel stressed that many guests have not yet checked in by that time.

Born and raised on the streets of Los Angeles Skid Row, General Dogan walks past tents and clothes on the street near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.

Born and raised on the streets of Los Angeles Skid Row, General Dogan walks past tents and clothes on the street near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.
(Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

“That just doesn’t make sense because at 2 PM people are barely checking into the hotels, and they’re asking us to combine both populations in a hotel – the paying guests and those that have hotel vouchers that would be issued by the city ,” Patel said.

“And our great concern is the safety of our guests, our staff and also our neighbors that surround the business communities,” he continued.

The homeless crisis has been a long-time issue in Los Angeles, but has worsened in many cities nationwide since the pandemic began.

According to the LA Homeless Services Authority, over 66,000 people were homeless in 2020, which was a 12% increase from 2019.

“I think this is something that the government should have resolved long time ago,” Patel said. “It’s been politicized, and you’ll hear this from all the homeless advocate groups, too, looking for housing for the unhoused, as they seem to be taking on as a topic when politicians are running for office – but there’s no solution provided. “

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Bailee Hill is an associate editor with Fox News Digital.

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Technology

How to Use Lockdown Mode in iOS 16 to Make Your Phone More Secure

How to Use Lockdown Mode in iOS 16 to Make Your Phone More Secure

Apple prides itself on the security measures built into its software and hardware—and it continues to add new protections and safeguards over time. Lockdown Mode is a new feature heading to iPhones, iPads, and Macs later this year, and it promises to protect your devices from “highly targeted cyberattacks.”

As you might surmise from the name, Lockdown Mode is a bit like closing the shutters, double-bolting the doors, and turning off all the lights in your home. It severely restricts the kinds of activity allowed on your devices, the logic being that if something unwanted has gained access, the damage will be limited.

For example, attachments other than images get turned off in Messages, and link previews are disabled. Incoming FaceTime calls from unknown numbers are blocked, as are wired connections with other hardware and accessories. Shared albums are removed from the Photos app, and new shared album invitations are blocked.

On a more technical level, a number of web technologies are turned off, including just-in-time (JIT) JavaScript compilation (where code is run and compiled at the same time.) In addition, configuration profiles (for work or school for example) can’t be installed.

Lockdown Mode will be arriving on iPhones with iOS 16.

Courtesy of Apple

Lockdown Mode is disabled by default but can be enabled on an iPhone by going to Settingsthen Privacy and Securitythen LockdownMode. Turning it on or off requires a system reboot and the device’s PIN. While Apple is describing the feature as something for users at risk from “state-sponsored mercenary spyware”—which sounds like high-profile targets—anyone will be able to switch it on for additional protection.

“Lockdown Mode is an extreme, optional protection that should only be used if you believe you may be personally targeted by a highly sophisticated cyberattack,” is the way that Apple puts it in its support documentation. “Most people are never targeted by attacks of this nature.”

As Apple explains, the overall idea is to reduce the attack surface that malware and spyware have access to. Tools including the Pegasus spyware package developed by the NSO Group have the potential to read texts, track calls, collect passwords, monitor a user’s location, and more—and some require no interaction from the user.

With Pegasus, for example, a WhatsApp call to the target device is all it takes for the spyware to start its work, even if the call isn’t answered. It’s worth noting that this particular piece of spyware is blocked from running on devices with iOS 15 or higher installed, but there are plenty of other threats still out there, and plenty more that will be developed in the future.

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