NZCity NewsLinks -

All Links

21 Jun 2025

Search

BBC shelves Gaza doc over impartiality concerns
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was due to air in February, was made by an independent company.

This JBL speaker is waterproof, portable, and 52% off
It’s hot out, and there’s a vacation vibe all around, so we’re aiming to spend more time outdoors. Still, if you need to have a bit of a soundtrack to your outdoor activities, you should get one of these 52 percent off JBL Clip 4 speakers since they’re only $39 right now. With a built-in carabiner, you can just pop these on your backpack when you’re hiking, hook the speaker to a belt loop while gardening, or your bike when you’re at the park. The speaker is about the size of your palm, so it won’t be too heavy or bulky to carry. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth, allowing you to play your favorite tracks off your default music app. The JBL Clip 4 may be tiny, but it’s built to withstand whatever adventures you want to go on. Not only can it handle regular wear and tear from being clipped to your gear, but it’s also waterproof and dustproof. Plus, this speaker has enough battery life to play music for about 10 hours on a single charge, which is pretty impressive for its size. Of course, battery life depends on your volume level, but you can expect it to be in the ballpark. Getting this $81 speaker for $39 is an absolute steal, and you should most definitely take advantage of this discount while it’s still available. Get the party started with this 52% off speakerBuy now at Amazon

Get a 4-pack of TP-Link smart light switches for just $40
Smartening up your home can make your life so much easier. Smart bulbs are a great start, especially if you’re into setting the mood with RGB lighting, but you could also go with smart light switches that have built-in dimmers, like this four-pack from TP-Link, now 56 percent off. Usually priced at $90, this pack is currently just $40, so you’re basically paying $10 per smart light switch. Depending on how many rooms there are in your home, you could outfit your whole house for surprisingly little. These are single-pole switches that replace your existing ones without requiring extra wiring. Once installed, just connect them to a 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi network with the Tapo app. From there, you can control the brightness, switch them on and off, and more. You can even use voice commands by integrating the app with Alexa, HomeKit, Google Home, or Samsung Bixby. You can set up schedules and routines, too. Stop wasting time! Get four of these Tapo smart light switches for $40 at Amazon. Get four smart light switches for 56% offBuy now at Amazon

A staggering 16 billion passwords just leaked. Here’s the real danger
Earlier this week, major news appeared to break—the discovery of 16 billion login records, available as part of massive datasets, tied to services like Apple, Google, Facebook, and GitHub. But unlike many other findings of this nature, these credentials don’t appear to be the usual repackaging of already leaked information. Instead, they contain fresh data not seen before. As detailed by Cybernews, its researchers say these passwords come from a combination of credential stuffing sets (known passwords used for credential stuffing attacks), previously leaked credentials, and data captured by infostealer malware. All told, this collection spans 30 datasets, ranging from the tens of millions to as many as 3.5 billion records each. Hearing this report, you might think one of two things: That trying for good online security is hopeless, given how easily logins fall into the hands of attackers. Or that because these billions of credentials were only available briefly, you have little to worry about. Nope. The real takeaway here is how easily infostealers can wreck your online security. How to protect yourself against infostealers Antivirus is one layer of protection against infostealers. But it shouldn’t be your first line of defense!Jim Martin / Foundry Here’s the problem with infostealers: You can use strong, unique passwords. You can store them in a password manager. You can keep your vault protected by a PIN or biometrics when not in use. But if this kind of malware infiltrates your PC or phone, you lose the benefit of those security measures. Infostealer malware can capture all kinds of data from your PC or phone, including your login details. How? Screenshots, recording what you type, and even lifting credentials straight from your browser. The best way to defend yourself against infostealers is to not have them on your PC. It’s a two-step process: Install only well-known, legitimate software. Pirated software is very common way people end up with infostealers on their devices. Compromised browser extensions is another—and it can be easy to be tricked by positive reviews or even the extension doing its advertised job. (It may perform the task, but also spy on you at the same time.) Stick to software that comes directly from the official source (e.g., Adobe or Google) and vetted by security professionals. Keep your antivirus up to date: Mistakes happen—perhaps you click on the wrong link and don’t know it. Good antivirus will monitor for questionable behavior from apps, but it can only do its best work if you automatically let it update and run in the background. For most security software, this will happen by default. Change that. OUr favorite Antivirus Norton 360 Deluxe Read our review You can also take two more smart steps: Enable multi-factor authentication (aka two-factor authentication) on as many accounts as possible. Start with your most valuable ones, like your primary email address, financial accounts, medical records, and government accounts. Consider too any major retailers where a bad actor could rack up charges quickly, like Amazon or Best Buy. With 2FA on, attackers will have to pass a second checkpoint before gaining access to your accounts—so even if you lose your password to an infostealer, you’re not completely compromised. Enable passkeys wherever possible. Passkeys are a stronger form of account authentication. A passkey can only be used by the device (or password manager) it was created for, so it can’t be shared or stolen like a password can. Worried that you could lock yourself out of your accounts if you lose your laptop, or your device gets wiped accidentally? You can still keep a strong, unique password on your account, so long as you combine it with two-factor authentication. Leave that as your backup method of login as a failsafe, but use your passkey(s) as your primary method for sign in. Sticking to well-known apps from trusted sources and enabling two-factor authentication may sound like a drag, but such measures can save you from identity theft, scams, and account lockouts. Infostealers are no joke—you can have the strongest password in the world, but if someone knows exactly what it is, you’re defenseless.