| Issue 2277 - Monday 24 February, 2025 | In Today’s Issue | Biggest crypto theft ever Apple pulls encrypted cloud feature after UK backdoor request Australia mentioned in Trump tech tariff order Did you know there’s an allegedly murderous Silicon Valley cult? Plus deals on Meross HomeKit smart plugs, Boost pre-paid SIM plans, Samsung monitors, Obsidian Labs gaming PCs, Dyson vacuums, iPhones 16 Plus/e and more.
| | The News | Biggest crypto theft ever | Hackers have carried out the largest crypto theft in history by stealing AU$2.35 billion from Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange ByBit (The Guardian). The exchange is still solvent, it claims, but more than $6.28 billon in assets has left their books since the attack on 21 February as they reportedly received 350,000 requests to withdraw funds (CoinDesk). Apparently the heist took place when ByBit did a routine money moving between offline and online wallets and attackers — who had hacked into the devices of multiple people who needed to authorise the transactions — just diverted Ethereum to their own wallets. Oops! If you’re interested in the nitty gritty, this security firm’s write-up gives some important context re: crypto crime trends (Trail of Bits) and how the attack wasn’t a tech exploit but a sophisticated hack targeting humans.
The context to this unfathomable crime is that the Trump administration is right now trying to get everyone into crypto. A former Biden financial regulator put it best: “These guys whose whole business is crypto, being smart about these issues, just lost [US]$1.5 billion. So how do we expect regular Americans who just want their debit card to work to safely use the products?” (NYT, $). | Apple pulls encrypted cloud feature after UK backdoor request | Apple has pulled its new encrypted cloud storage feature from the UK after its government compelled the tech company to build it a global backdoor (The Verge). The company has stopped offering its Advanced Data Protection service to new customers and will end existing subscriptions in response to the UK Home Office’s “technical capability notice” — a legal request with an equivalent in Australia. While Apple can appeal the request, it was legally required to start working on the backdoor and is prohibited from talking about it. So it appears Apple will withdraw the product instead. Speaking of UK laws with Australian equivalents, Hacker News-like news aggregator lobste.rs is geoblocking UK users before their Online Safety Act comes into effect next month (lobste.rs) over similar rules to those from Australia’s Online Safety Act. | Australia mentioned in Trump tech tariff order | Are your ears burning? That could be because Australia was the first country mentioned in the Trump administration’s executive order declaring foreign governments’ attempt to tax or otherwise burden tech companies will result in retaliatory tariffs (White House). |  | No idea the original source but I love it |
| If you want a sense for just how petty this gets, the order gets granular enough to even take aim at local content funding requirements for streaming services (RIP Heartbreak High Season 3). Sarah Hanson-Young told me that she’s still pushing for Australia to pass the media bargaining code 2.0 (Crikey, $) but, like covered last week, I give it a near 0% chance of happening before the election.
Two other quick Aus tech policy things: | Telegram, the platform that’s long been home to conspiracy theorists and Nazis, says it’ll appeal a $957,000 fine from the eSafety Commissioner for being half a year late to report what it’s doing to deal with child abuse and terrorist material on its platform (The Guardian Australia). Federal government has quietly banned Kaspersky Lab products from its devices due to an “unacceptable security risks … of foreign interference, espionage and sabotage.” (Department of Home Affairs), following a US ban on all sale of its software last year (The Guardian Australia).
| | Oh, Also | Did you know there’s an allegedly murderous Silicon Valley cult? | It really sounds like a B-grade horror movie that you’d see on one of the lesser streaming services — Amazon Prime Video, maybe? — but there is actually a cult of Silicon Valley types who, inspired by an off-shoot of an online, tech philosophy movement that’s linked to Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, are now implicated in the murders and suicides of several people. They’re called the Zizians, and the group has received a surprisingly little amount of global attention until only recently. WIRED just released a long-read that you should set aside half an hour to read (WIRED, $). Come for the truly insane true crime story, stay for the fable about how people can convince themselves into thinking something very dumb because they have convinced they’re actually very smart. | | Bargains | Electrical & Electronics | | Computing | | Mobile | | | The End | 😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday afternoon. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius. | 💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news. | 🗣️ The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social. | 💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal. | 🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle. | 💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide. | 🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply! | Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land | The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present. |
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