Sunday, September 8, 2024

For security, stop picking up your phone

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Image Credits: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek

Security editor Zack Whittaker has a simple piece of advice: Don't pick up the phone.

Telephone scams aren't new, but voice AI tools and number spoofing make it harder than ever to know whether the person on the other end is really who they claim to be. For example, a Ferrari executive received a phone call in July from someone claiming to be the company's CEO, using an accent that sounded real.

Sadly, most of us can't give up on phone calls entirely. But Zack outlines steps to verify a caller's identity, especially if they're asking for payment or sensitive information. You can follow the example of that Ferrari executive, who, in an effort to identify the caller, asked the supposed CEO for the title of the book the two of them had discussed a few days earlier.

Keep reading to see what else TechCrunch is covering this weekend.

Weekend news and opinion

Image Credits: Henry Pickavet

The Bay Area's coolest startup might be a baseball team: Amanda Silberling profiles the Oakland Ballers, a new baseball team created in the hopes of replacing the departing Oakland A's. Founder Paul Freedman said the Ballers will never be an MLB team, "but it doesn't mean we can't provide some of the same experiences and some of the same joy." Read more

Startups face fines and bans in individual states: With startups like Carta and Pulley having their business licenses revoked by Illinois and Washington, respectively, Rebecca Szkutak spoke to startup leaders and attorneys about the challenges of state-by-state compliance. Read more

How Someone Somewhere created its viral AI images: Mary Ann Azevedo writes about how Someone Somewhere fed the artisans' techniques and images into Stable Diffusion's models, creating an AI image highlighting the Mexican startup's work with those same artisans. And now it's landed a major Adidas contract. Read more

What else we've been reading 📖

⚖ In the latest development in a months-long legal battle with Brazil's Supreme Court, Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) was recently banned in that country. The New York Times took a step back to explain how the court's broader effort to fight fake news eventually led to the social platform's ban. Read more

🎬 Also, CNET interviewed Bill Gates about AI, misinformation and his new Netflix docuseries, "What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates." Read more