Technology news

Video conferencing provider Zoom plans to strengthen encryption of video calls hosted by paying clients and institutions such as schools, but not by users of its free consumer accounts, a company official said on Friday. The company, whose business has boomed with the coronavirus pandemic, discussed the move on a call with civil liberties groups and child-sex abuse fighters on Thursday, and Zoom security consultant Alex Stamos confirmed it on Friday. In an interview, Stamos said the plan was subject to change and it was not yet clear which, if any, nonprofits or other users, such as political dissidents, might qualify for accounts allowing more secure video meetings. He added that a combination of technological, safety and business factors went into the plan, which drew mixed reactions from privacy advocates. Zoom has attracted millions of free and paying customers amid the pandemic, in part because users could join a meeting - something that now happens 300 million times a day … [Read more...] about Zoom plans to roll out strong encryption for paying customers

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was informed in advance by the company's staff of a decision to tag a tweet by President Donald Trump as "glorifying violence", a spokeswoman for the company said. "The decision was made jointly by teams within Twitter, and our CEO Jack Dorsey was informed of the plan before the Tweet was labelled," the spokeswoman said in an email. … [Read more...] about Twitter says CEO Jack Dorsey informed in advance of decision to tag Donald Trump tweet

US President Donald Trump has said that his immigration ban will be for only 60 days and indicated that workers on temporary visas like H1-B for professionals could continue to come in. "This order will apply only to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards; big factor, will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis," Trump said on Tuesday while clarifying that it is for only 60 days. He said that there would also be some exemptions to the temporary ban on immigrants. "Some people will have to come in; obviously we have to do that, obviously even from a humane standpoint," he said. Trump had tweeted the immigration ban on Monday night. He said that the executive order was being drafted and will probably be issued on Wednesday. Trump said that after 60 days he and a group will evaluate the need for any extension or modification "based on economic conditions at that time." An immigration lawyer, Mark Davies, said that based upon … [Read more...] about US President Donald Trump makes 2 important clarifications on immigration ban

Twitter Inc, Reddit and a group representing major internet firms backed two documentary film groups that have challenged the Trump Administration's 2019 rules requiring nearly all U.S. visitors to disclose social media user information from the prior five years. In court papers filed on Thursday, the social media sites and the Internet Association, representing Facebook, Amazon.com, Alphabet and others, said the rules force foreign nationals "to surrender their anonymity in order to travel to the United States" and "chill a vast quantity of speech and associational activity." The Doc Society and the International Documentary Association filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in December. They said they regularly collaborate with non-U.S. filmmakers and warn that visitors must "consider the risk that a U.S. official will misinterpret their speech on social media, impute others' speech to them, or subject them to additional scrutiny or delayed processing because of … [Read more...] about Twitter, Reddit and other internet groups oppose US rules requiring visitors to disclose social media information

Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday said it has won a "large" contract from the Indian Army for setting up an advanced IT-enabled system to operate the Armed Forces network under the Network of Spectrum (NFS). Though the company did not mention the exact value of the contract, as per its project classification, the value of a large order ranges between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore. The Smart World and Communication Business of L&T Construction has secured a large order from the Indian Army to establish an unified network management system to manage, support and operate the countrywide Armed Forces Network under the NFS, the company said in a statement. "This is an extremely crucial and sensitive project for the Ministry of Defence and we are proud that the Ministry has reposed their faith in our technical, engineering and solutioning capabilities to execute this project," said SN Subrahmanyan - CEO a Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro. It … [Read more...] about Larsen & Toubro wins “large” contract from Indian Army