from the what-the-hell-are-you-doing,-dumbass dept

It’s hard to not have noticed that a key enabler of U.S. authoritarianism was our consolidated corporate media, which (with scattered exception) was more than happy to throw the entirety of journalistic integrity in the toilet for a chance to please a mad, idiot king. In large part because our press is increasingly owned by a handful of rich, white, old, right wing men keen on tax cuts and deregulation.

It’s very hard to also ignore that if we’re going to avoid more Donald Trumps, the country is in desperate need of media reform. Greater antitrust enforcement, the restoration of media consolidation limits, media ownership diversity requirements, improved media literacy standards (see: Finland), the restoration of U.S. public media, a refusal to amplify or validate the trolling of racist opportunists, and creative new funding models for real journalism are all essential.

Unfortunately Democrats and Republicans alike pay a lot of empty lip service to this sort of stuff, before immediately doing whatever makes our biggest corporations happy.

Case in point: California Governor Gavin Newsom for some reason thought it would be a good idea to try and quietly pressure California (and 11 other states) to drop their antitrust lawsuit against Paramount and David Ellison’s $111 billion merger with Warner Brothers.

Why? According to the Wall Street Journal (non-paywalled archive link) Newsom is trying to argue that blocking the unpopular deal will somehow harm California employment:

“In recent weeks, Newsom has told people involved in the matter that if the deal is blocked as a result of the suit, state employment would suffer, the people said. Newsom’s office has encouraged Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which has independent authority to file such suits, to find a resolution out of court, the people said.”

That’s simply not a fact-based claim. There are 100 years of very hard evidence showing that media consolidation repeatedly results in massive layoffs and higher prices for consumers. It’s simply not a debate. Warner Brothers, in particular, has a quarter century of hard evidence showing that every deal the company has been involved with ends in mass layoffs, higher prices, and shittier overall product.

We literally just went through this very thing with the AT&T/Discovery/DirecTV/Warner Bros mergers, which resulted in 50,000 people losing their jobs (this stark human tally is, curiously, memory holed when it comes to most corporate press coverage of the latest round of mergers).

California and eleven other states filed an antitrust lawsuit to block Paramount’s latest merger last month, correctly pointing out that the high debt load of the deal will result in significantly more layoffs for an already reeling U.S. entertainment industry. The courts have agreed to delays, which has justifiably worried Paramount given looming ticking fees ($7 million daily paid to investors starting in October) and Ellison’s/Oracle’s precarious financial footing on AI.

So the company is applying pressure wherever they can, and has found a helpful ear in folks like Gavin Newsom, Ari Emanuel, and James Cameron. The fact that Newsom is doing this behind closed doors and refuses to own the position or publicly comment to the press indicates he knows just how unpopular it is.

Newsom has no direct authority to pressure the AG on the deal, but it does shine a light on the kind of media policies you can expect under a Gavin Newsom presidency. Newsom has already found himself under fire for repeatedly hosting assorted white supremacists and right wing propagandists on his podcast, demonstrating a lack of modern media understanding and a tendency toward rank opportunism.

Newsom isn’t alone in being terrible when it comes to U.S. media policy. Democrats have historically spent the last quarter century tripping over their own asses when it comes to meaningful media reform policies, and the impact has not been subtle.

As a result, Republicans increasingly dominate everything from AM radio and local broadcast news, to Twitter and whatever’s left of cable news. Larry Ellison actively supports fascism; and he’s very clearly hoovering up outlets like CBS and CNN with an eye on making already saggy U.S. journalism much worse. Placating Larry Ellison doesn’t create jobs; it creates more fascism.

There is no bridging with or debating fascism. There’s no conversation to be had with it. It’s something that’s either destroyed or left to metastasize. A cornerstone of right wing U.S. authoritarianism has been extremely racist propaganda seeded across a feckless consolidated corporate media. Presidential hopefuls keen on dislodging fascism from the body politic — and avoiding a repeat with a younger, smarter version of Trump — shouldn’t be making the problem worse.

Filed Under: antitrust, competition, disinformation, gavin newsom, jobs, journalism, larry ellison, media consolidation, mergers, propaganda, rob bonta

Companies: paramount, warner bros.

Apple is now seeking a preliminary injunction in its trade secrets case against OpenAI, which aims to stop the AI model maker from moving forward with developing an AI device or other products based on Apple’s technology. The iPhone maker also claims that more of its former employees may be involved with the trade secrets theft.

In a new filing, Apple is requesting expedited discovery from the accused OpenAI employees, senior systems engineer Chang Liu and Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan; OpenAI, and its foundation; and io, the device startup co-founded by Apple’s former lead designer Jony Ive.

Apple also notes that its continued investigation has so far revealed 11 other former Apple employees beyond Liu and Tan may have been witnesses or otherwise involved in the case, and others who were previously named in the original complaint, like OpenAI employee Yu-Ting Peng.

The filing marks an escalation in Apple’s legal battle with OpenAI, as it suggests Apple has uncovered new evidence that the misconduct goes beyond the former employees named in the original complaint.

“For example, another former Apple employee seems to have met with Mr. Liu and Ms. Peng in advance of Ms. Peng’s interview at OpenAI and discussed with them during that meeting Apple proprietary information relating to unannounced products,” the filing states. “Yet another former Apple employee took screenshots of confidential Apple documents relating to an unannounced Apple product before an interview at OpenAI.”

“And, after Apple filed its complaint, multiple former Apple employees now working at OpenAI reached out to discuss returning Apple-issued work devices they kept when they left Apple,” Apple claims, suggesting there were more who were possibly involved with the scheme.

Apple is pushing the court to allow for expedited discovery because it believes it has good cause to suspect that there are others involved in the theft of its intellectual property. The company noted that its motion for a preliminary injunction is also pending.

OpenAI responded publicly to Apple’s latest, saying in a blog post that Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction is “both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets.”

“We’re much more interested in building innovative products and technologies that push the frontier,” OpenAI’s statement reads.

The AI model maker also pointed to earlier mistakes Apple made, which had been reported, including that Apple emailed the wrong person when it made contact with OpenAI after confusing two similar surnames. OpenAI also alleges that Apple lied about discussing matters with its general counsel. And, the company said that Apple didn’t admit to the claim that the “residual access” allowing former employees to access Apple’s system was the result of poor security procedures on Apple’s part.

A malware campaign is using fake Zoom updates and business files to install ScreenConnect, giving attackers remote control through software that can resemble legitimate IT activity. And now, it’s come to Mac.

Securonix researchers detailed the campaign, named Smoke#Screen, in an August 4 report. They traced Windows scripts, compiled loaders, an HTML phishing page and a macOS package named “ZoomUpdateInstaller.pkg” to shared infrastructure.

ScreenConnect is legitimate remote monitoring and management software published by ConnectWise and commonly used by IT departments. The campaign configures genuine ScreenConnect clients to contact attacker-controlled relay servers rather than an authorized company system.

Once connected, the software can give an attacker remote desktop and management capabilities. The resulting activity may resemble ordinary technical support, making the intrusion harder to identify without examining how the software arrived and where it connects.

The macOS package contacted the same primary relay server as several Windows payloads, tying it to the wider operation. However, Securonix did not identify how the Mac installer was distributed or report any confirmed Mac infections.

The report also didn’t say whether the macOS package was signed and notarized by Apple. The discovery therefore establishes that the campaign’s infrastructure included a Mac payload, but not that attackers successfully delivered it to Mac users.

The finding adds to a series of campaigns using fake installers and familiar software brands to persuade Mac users to run malware. In this case, the strongest evidence of completed infection chains comes from the Windows payloads analyzed by Securonix.

Fake updates lead to ScreenConnect

Securonix documented four social engineering themes involving Zoom updates, Adobe updates, business document reviews and system maintenance checks. Each observed attack path tried to persuade the victim to open a file that installed ScreenConnect.

A live WsgiDAV server running at 207.174.0.143:8080, a Python-based WebDAV implementation commonly used for local file sharing and development. Image credit: Securonix

The investigation began with a Windows VBScript file named “zoom-update.vbs” that appeared in Securonix telemetry. Researchers followed its network activity to an accessible staging server containing 15 payloads, including the macOS Zoom installer.

Other files included ScreenConnect installers named “SystemCheck.msi” and “Document-review.msi.” The server also hosted Windows executables posing as Adobe Reader updates and document viewers.

The files used different names and delivery methods, but they served the same purpose. Each installed an unauthorized ScreenConnect client configured to contact attacker infrastructure.

Researchers identified three ScreenConnect relay clusters, each using a separate RSA key pair. The primary server also hosted the campaign’s payloads, allowing it to distribute files and manage infected computers.

Other parts of the campaign used Dropbox and a Cloudflare Quick Tunnel to deliver payloads or conceal supporting infrastructure. Downloads involving familiar cloud services may attract less attention than traffic from an unknown domain, although security tools can still detect suspicious commands and installations.

Separate relay servers could also make the campaign more difficult to disrupt. Identifying or shutting down one cluster would not disable clients configured to contact the others.

Windows loaders attack security defenses

The Windows samples show that the campaign changed its methods during Securonix’s investigation. Initial loaders relied on obfuscated VBScript, encrypted commands and environmental checks intended to complicate automated analysis.

One script stopped running when it found less than 2 GB of physical memory, a condition associated with some lightweight virtual machines and malware sandboxes. It also searched for Wireshark, Process Monitor, VirtualBox services and VMware Tools before continuing.

Other loaders used batch files and compiled .NET programs to attack Windows security controls before installing ScreenConnect. The commands attempted to disable Microsoft Defender protections, change SmartScreen settings and add antivirus exclusions.

JqbMljCi.msi is one of the randomly named files hosted on the staging server and is one of three files confirmed to be identical. Image credit: Securonix

The loaders also tried to remove Mark of the Web data from downloaded files. Windows uses that marker to identify files obtained from the internet and apply additional security warnings.

One loader added the root of the C: drive to Microsoft Defender’s exclusion list. It also attempted to change the Windows Defender service’s startup configuration.

Securonix said the sequence could leave a computer with weakened protections even if the later ScreenConnect download failed. The broad exclusion could also make it easier for additional malware to avoid antivirus scanning.

The campaign later changed direction. Researchers found a newer loader that removed the aggressive Defender-tampering sequence and instead waited three minutes between installing ScreenConnect and starting its service.

The delay appeared designed to separate related events inside endpoint detection logs. Securonix also found a source-code comment that referred specifically to breaking Elastic event correlation.

The finding supports the researchers’ conclusion that the operators adjusted their tools in response to commercial security products. However, the report does not establish when each loader entered circulation or whether all versions were used sequentially.

The analyzed Windows attack paths ultimately installed legitimate ScreenConnect MSI packages signed by ConnectWise through a valid DigiCert certificate chain. Signed remote-management software may receive less scrutiny than an unknown executable, although a valid signature does not make an unauthorized installation safe.

Attackers have used similar remote access capabilities in previous Mac malware campaigns because they provide continuing control without requiring a custom backdoor. Smoke#Screen instead deploys a genuine enterprise management client that may already be familiar to corporate security teams.

The report does not identify the people operating Smoke#Screen or connect the campaign to a known hacking group. Shared servers, encryption keys and payload development link the analyzed files, but they do not reveal the operators’ identity, location or motive.

How Mac users can stay safe from Smoke#Screen

The attack paths documented by Securonix required a victim to open a file presented as an update, document or maintenance utility. Software such as Zoom and Adobe Reader should be updated through built-in tools or installers downloaded directly from the developer.

Mac users should treat unexpected installer packages as suspicious, even when the filename refers to familiar software. Previous campaigns have shown that signed or even notarized apps can still begin a malicious installation.

Organizations should inventory approved remote management tools and identify ScreenConnect agents that contact unknown servers or raw IP addresses. Defenders should also examine how the software arrived, which process launched it and whether the installation was authorized.

The ScreenConnect name and its valid digital signature are not enough to establish that an installation is safe. The relay destination and surrounding activity provide the context needed to separate approved support software from an attacker’s remote-access tool.

Something to look forward to: Microsoft is expanding how older Xbox games are played, with new plans that would bring Xbox 360 titles to PC and a wider range of devices. The effort, outlined in a document sent to developers, points to a broader push to make Xbox games work across consoles, PCs, and handheld systems.

According to the document seen by The Verge, Xbox 360 games will be able to run not only on Microsoft’s upcoming Project Helix console, but also on “Xbox PCs” and handheld devices. That follows earlier signals that Helix will support PC games, suggesting Microsoft is building a system where the same titles can move more easily between different types of hardware.

The goal appears to be a more unified Xbox ecosystem. By extending older games to PC, Microsoft can grow its overall library and make it accessible beyond traditional consoles. It’s also part of a longer-term shift toward digital distribution, where games are tied to accounts rather than physical formats or specific devices.

Developers will decide whether to make their Xbox 360 titles available through the backward compatibility program. They will also control pricing and whether those games are included in Game Pass. That flexibility could help Microsoft bring more titles into the program without forcing publishers into a single model.

The rollout for Xbox 360 compatibility is expected to happen gradually between 2027 and 2028 across next-generation devices. Ahead of that, Microsoft is planning a full launch of its original Xbox games on PC in October 2026. That program was introduced earlier this year with just four titles, suggesting a phased approach.

The same document also sheds light on Microsoft’s efforts to connect physical and digital ownership. The company is working on a system that would let players convert certain disc-based games into digital licenses. If a user inserts an Xbox One or Series game disc into a compatible console, they would receive a digital license tied to both the disc and their account.

That license would carry across devices, allowing players to access the game without needing the disc each time. However, ownership would still be linked to the physical copy. If the disc is sold or transferred, the digital license would move with it, and the original owner would lose access. This setup is designed to keep resale and trade-ins possible while limiting duplicate use.

Microsoft had planned to test this feature with Xbox Insiders in July, with a wider rollout expected in August. The beta has been delayed, and it is unclear whether the original timeline still applies.

Apple has set new annual sales in India, with its second main iPhone manufacturing base generating a record $10 billion in sales despite currency and tax challenges.

India serves as Apple’s second base of iPhone production alongside China, as part of the wider supply chain. While Apple has been building up its production capacity in India, it’s also been increasing sales there, too.

According to a Tuesday Bloomberg report, Apple has exceeded $10 billion in annual sales in India over the last fiscal year. It eclipses the $9 billion annual revenue that was reported in September 2025.

Advised by an unnamed source familiar with the matter, the $10 billion was for the 12-month period running to March. It represents a double-digit year-on-year percentage increase over the previous fiscal year.

The bulk of the sales are for the iPhone, the source claimed. However, the demand for other products, such as iPad and Mac sales, also rose in the year.

A significant increase, despite financial disadvantages

Earning $10 billion in revenue in India is certainly a lot. Compared to other markets, India is still relatively small.

By comparison, China has a comparative population of 1.41 billion people, but accounted for $18.8 billion in revenue in Apple’s most recent quarter. Japan managed $6.6 billion in the last quarter, with its population of 122 million people.

The $10 billion figure isn’t significant when put against other major regions Apple monitors. But, it is when you consider that India is a challenging country for sales.

While there’s a backdrop of Apple expanding its presence with more retail stores over time, it has to combat exchange rates. India’s rupee has declined 10% versus the US dollar.

There are also local taxes to contend with, which also push the price up. The entry-level iPhone 17 is 82,900 rupees in India, making it approximately $870 versus the same $799 product in the United States.

The higher prices have been countered by Apple working with banks to provide credit card rebates, as well as increasing student discounts and handling trade-ins.

More than just production

India is a tougher trading environment for Apple, and it is succeeding, but it is only part of the reason for its work there.

Apple has been working to diversify its supply chain from its China-centric arrangement for years, and India has proven itself to be highly useful in accomplishing that.

It also helps that Apple gets considerable financial benefits for setting up shop in India. Various production incentives and tax exemptions have made it viable for Apple to continue expansion in the country.

On Monday, it was revealed that more benefits are on the way. That includes import tax exemptions for components that are used for manufacturing in India bit are used in products that are exported and not sold in the country.