Making cybersecurity predictions is easy (“Cybercriminals will become more inventive”). Making actionable ones for IT security leaders is much harder. We’ve assembled what we hope is a useful list of predictions from cybersecurity vendors – people who know what threat actors talk about on dark web forums, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their customers’ IT infrastructures.

There’s no promise that all/most/some of these predictions will come true. The bottom line is, there will be no let-up in attacks. So this advice from Dave Orban, senior manager of product marketing of Commvault is vital:

“Prepare — and be recovery-ready. Your approach needs to be proactive and multi-pronged. Assess your risks and mitigate them upfront; protect your assets and harden your infrastructure; continuously monitor to identify possible threats; respond rapidly; and recover and restore as quickly as possible to minimize business disruption.”

And here, according to vendor experts, are some of the things they think we must be prepared for.

Jon France, CISO at (ISC)²

— Demand for cyber insurance is going to increase, but it’s going to become harder to get. In Q1 2022 alone, premiums for cyber insurance rose nearly 28 per cent compared with Q4 2021. This is largely due to heightened awareness of the financial and reputational risks of cyber incidents such as ransomware attacks, data breaches, vulnerability exploitation and more. At the same time, underwriters are also making requirements for obtaining cyber insurance much more strict, requiring things like two-factor authentication and the adoption of specific technologies like EDR, XDR and more. In fact, these documents used to be two-page questionnaires…now they’re full audits and 12+ pages long. So, increasing cyber insurance premiums and stricter requirements to obtain insurance will be interesting hurdles to watch in 2023.

On the flip side, we will likely also see an increase in demand stemming from the rising incidence of supply chain issues. Because of these issues, companies will likely start requiring more and more that any vendor or third party they work with must have cyber insurance. As we’re already starting to see, with geopolitical issues spilling out across borders, in addition to the cyber threats companies are constantly facing, companies are going to prioritize protecting their most critical assets (including their reputations). In 2023, demand for cyber insurance will continue to increase, as will prices and requirements for obtaining these policies.

Also in 2023, industries will continue to underestimate the importance of securing OT infrastructure. Securing these systems doesn’t mean forcing “new” technology onto the systems – it’s not about zero trust or having more regulations or more patching requirements. It’s about increasing visibility into assets, implementing mitigating controls, and building resiliency plans so that if the worst comes, downtime and impact can be mitigated. In 2023, we’re likely to see the industry continue to misconceive what is needed to secure these systems, and we’ll likely see a major attack on critical infrastructure because of it.

Tyler Moffitt, senior security analyst, OpenText Security Solutions

— Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will need to do more with less, and cyber resiliency will be more important than ever. Cybercriminals will increase ransomware attacks on SMBs as prime targets in the wake of heightened geopolitical tensions, such as the war in Ukraine, and rising inflation in the U.S. This will force SMBs to do more with less, while already having smaller cybersecurity teams and budgets to defend against attacks, and it will make cyber resiliency more important than ever. Our recent SMB survey found that 52 per cent of respondents felt more at risk of a ransomware attack due to heightened geopolitical tensions, and 57 per cent were also concerned about their security budgets shrinking due to inflation.

John Fokker, head of threat intelligence, Trellix

— Teens and young adults will engage at increasing levels in cybercrime – everything from large-scale attacks on enterprises and governments to low-level crimes that target family, friends, peers, and strangers. Attacks against Windows domains will scale. More domain privilege escalation vulnerabilities will be discovered, as well as more real-world attacks against Microsoft Windows with the explicit goal of complete network takeover. As groups of loosely organized individuals fueled by propaganda align for a common cause, they will ramp up their use of cyber tools to voice their anger and cause disruption across the globe.

Charles Henderson, global managing partner and head of IBM Security X-Force

— Cybercriminals look for organizations or industries teetering at the edge and then make their move to tip them over. Last year, we saw that with manufacturing — a strained industry viewed as the backbone of supply chains. With the distinct possibility of a global recession on the horizon, we expect to see ransomware attacks spike in 2023. However, larger organizations in regions heavily impacted during the ransomware boom are the most prepared for this wave, after investing time and money in fighting back.

Kevin Bocek, VP of security strategy and threat intelligence at Venafi

— The ransomware cash cow may stop mooing in 2023, forcing hackers to pivot to other revenue generators – like selling stolen machine identities. We’ve already seen a high price for code signing machine identities on dark web markets, and groups like Lapsus$ regularly use them to launch devastating attacks such as the Lapsus$ theft of data from Nvidia. Their value will only increase this coming year. In addition, nation-state attacks will become more feral as ground war tactics become more untamed and unpredictable, bringing the cyber and physical worlds into a collision course. These will have the potential to spill over into other nations, as Russia becomes more daring, trying to win the war by any means – and could be used as a distraction to target other nations with cyberattacks.

Chip Gibbons, CISO at Thrive

— Business Email Compromise (BEC) will continue to be a top attack method from cyber attackers, and the easiest way into an organization. With the increase in zero-day attacks, people are going to be looking at reducing their externally available footprint. Multifactor authentication (MFA) will be ubiquitous and nothing should be externally available without it.

Avihay Cohen, CTO and co-founder of Seraphic Security

— The browser, the gateway to an organization’s endpoint, becomes the main target for threat actors. Browsers power just about everything we do and are undoubtedly the most used applications, especially as more applications like CRM tools migrate from native applications to existing fully in the browser. Because so much of our daily work and personal activities live in the browser, it’s the perfect gateway for threat actors to reach an organization’s core. As browsers become more complex with new features and uses, threat actors will heavily target browser bugs and vulnerabilities in 2023 to breach organizations and access sensitive data.

George Gerchow, CSO and SVP of IT, Sumo Logic

— Organizations got a crash course in hybrid and remote work at the start of the pandemic. While many of the related security and technology issues have been ironed out, some of the remaining challenges aren’t about technology. One concern is employee mental health and another is creating the right processes and procedures to access the infrastructure. Additionally, the threat landscape is beyond the enterprise perimeter, making it difficult to identify employees and detect behaviors. Employees are going to continue to use devices for both personal and professional purposes, increasing risk but also improving productivity. Also, security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) will continue to exist, but will be increasingly absorbed into other security platforms and the term will die out as it becomes baked into overall security. SOAR will converge with security information and event management (SIEM), and acquisitions will continue to contribute to vendor consolidation.

Marijus Briedis, chief technical officer, NordVPN

— 5G will create more cybersecurity challenges. Even though 5G will provide users with a faster internet connection, it will also require significant attention to be paid to the new infrastructure, opening more access points for hackers to compromise. And with the global shortage of cybersecurity experts, it will be increasingly difficult to prevent that. In addition, wave bye-bye to third-party cookies. Google promised to eliminate third-party cookies in Chrome browsers by 2024. This is great news for anyone who values their privacy. At the moment, Google is thinking of new ways to track its flow (such as through FLoC). So even though we cannot say that user tracking is gone, we can celebrate the era of intrusive tracking coming to an end.

Cody Cornell, co-founder and chief strategy officer, Swimlane

— As economic uncertainty looms in the air, as organizations plan for 2023 budgets, the conversation around purchasing cybersecurity solutions will transition from “what are we buying?” to “why are we buying it?” With leadership looking to tighten budgets, the C-suite will begin to question the effectiveness and outcomes of security tools rather than just worrying about having solutions in place, ensuring the budget is spent on tools that bring value to the business. Also, organizations will begin to move their response to high-fidelity alerts to their automation system, as opposed to running it through a data lake or some type of SIEM as they are very cost prohibitive and slow to respond to high-fidelity information.

Rohyt Belani, chief executive officer and co-founder, Cofense

— Cybersecurity will not be immune to the recession. In2023, we will see fewer resources and tighter security budgets in corporate settings thanks to economic uncertainty, resulting in subpar security posture across organizations. Because of this, threat actors will capitalize on this asymmetry and evolve faster, creating the perfect storm for an amplified number of breaches across all vectors in 2023, especially using email as an attack vector. Email security and endpoint security will be at the top of the CISO’s wish list.

Jeremy Kowalczyk, senior security architect, Cequence Security

— Threat actors will become more sophisticated in 2023 by leveraging the unholy trinity of application security interface (API) attack vectors. Historically, malicious actors targeting APIs would leverage only one of the tactics outlined by the OWASP Top 10. The reality is that APIs are under attack from several different vectors. In the year ahead, we will see attackers evolve to use a combination of three different tactics–Broken User Authentication (API2), Excessive Data Exposure (API3) and Improper Assets Management (API9)–to bypass common security controls and achieve their end goal. The increased combination of these three threats indicate that attackers will be performing new levels of analysis to understand how each API works – including how they interact with one another and what the expected result will be.

Marc Rivero, senior security researcher, Kaspersky

— We are predicting two major scenes inside the ransomware landscape in the upcoming year. One of them will be the usage of destructive ransomware with the unique purpose of resource destruction and the impact of what we call ‘regional attacks,’ where certain families only impact certain regions. For instance, the mobile malware landscape made a big evolution in the Latin American region, bypassing the security methods applied by banks such as OTP (one-time passcode) and MFA. Malware-as-a-service is another important thing to observe as this kind of underground service is commonly found around ransomware attacks impacting larger organizations.”

As geopolitics increasingly occupy the attention not only of the public but also of cybercriminals, ransomware groups are expected to make demands for some form of political action instead of asking for ransom money. An example of this is Freeud; brand-new ransomware with wiper capabilities.

Nik Achesco, chief data officer, Okera

— Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) gets supercharged: With more breaches becoming public, policy makers are being forced to represent a frustrated consumer base and hold companies more accountable. As such, we’re continuing to see a boom in policies, regulations, and permissibility, with corporate executives being held accountable for not following best practices. In 2023, new technologies along with attention from the legal community will pick up steam enabling individuals to gain greater visibility and control of what, where, and how their data is being used. Worse, it will cripple many enterprises that still struggle with over-provisioning of data, lack of full visibility, and legacy patterns operating in contemporary distributed data environments.

Robert Prigge, CEO, Jumio

— Social media sites will be pressured to implement rigorous age verification controls. The U.S. Congress is contemplating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), while California passed the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AADCA). At the same time, Instagram andYubo recently launched AI-powered age verification programs that go beyond traditional age checks, like questionnaires where minors can easily lie about their age. Digital identity verification that leverages the power of AI and biometrics will be a crucial tool to confirm users are the age they’re claiming to be.

David Anteliz, senior technical director, Skybox Security

— The increase in cybersecurity directives from the federal government will lead to a rise in threat actor activity against federal agencies. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a number of new guidance this year. Most recently, Binding Operational Directive 23-01 mandates federal agencies to take necessary steps to improve their asset visibility and vulnerability detection capabilities in the next six months. In 2023, threat actors will ramp up their attacks on before new cybersecurity controls are implemented ahead of 2023 deadlines. This increase in attacks will likely come in the form of supply chain attacks as malicious actors seek to do their worst before they get caught. Also, threat actors will place an increased focus on targeting individuals via fake accounts on LinkedIn.

Irfan Shakeel, VP of training and certification services, OPSWAT

— Cyberattacks on the healthcare industry will continue to increase. The healthcare industry is most vulnerable to cyberattacks, which makes it a lucrative target for cybercriminals. With healthcare staff generally unaware of the extent of cyber risks and best practices, educating them is of vital importance to protect the healthcare industry from cyberattacks.”

Olivier Gaudin, CEO and co-founder of SonarSource

— Software hits a fork in the road. Good software must have the ability to evolve and change – even radically when necessary – to meet shifting business and customer demands. For example, software that was initially designed to do X may have to transform to do Y such as Visual Studio Code. Over time this software has evolved to include rich editing capabilities including intelligent auto code completion, customization of fonts, layouts, and colors, and is now expanding its use in a cloud-based environment. Next year, we’ll see software start to diverge into two categories: Software that is malleable and can change to easily incorporate new functionality, and software that is rigid and can’t. The latter will prove to have limited business value and will eventually fall out of favor entirely as executives expect that software is dynamic enough to accommodate emerging use cases.

Kevin Kirkwood, Deputy CISO, Logrhythm

— Software supply chain attacks will continue to be one of the biggest threats to enterprises using open-source software. Organizations should be on high alert for supply chain attacks if they use open-source software. In recent years, hackers have become more strategic when it comes to exploiting open-source software and code. 2023 will be no different. Bad actors examine the code and its components to obtain a thorough understanding of its flaws and the most effective ways to exploit them. In 2023, we’ll see bad actors attack vulnerabilities in low-hanging open-source vendors with the intention of compromising the global supply chain that utilizes third-party code.

Brad Hibbert, COO & CSO at Prevalent, Inc.

— The old “Annual and Manual” approach to third-party risk managment (TPRM) will become an exception rather than the norm. Given the continual onslaught of third-party vendor and supplier-originated security incidents (for example, the ransomware attack at Kojima Industries that stopped production at Toyota), organizations are trying to better predict disruptions and mitigate them when they do happen. Organizations have to be more proactive, continuous, and agile in assessing their third-party vendor and supplier resilience, ditching manual methods once and for all. TPRM can’t be an annual, manual check-the-box exercise.

This isn’t all of the predictions. Look for Part 2, also on ITWorldCanada.com.

The post 2023 Cybersecurity predictions – Part 1 first appeared on IT World Canada.

WhatsApp will stop working on dozens of devices come December 31st.

According to WhatsApp’s support page, the app runs on Android 4.1 and newer and iOS 12 and newer.

As reported by 9to5Mac, along with several other media outlets, the popular messaging app discontinued support for iOS 10 and iOS 11 in October. Both the iPhone 5 and 5C were last updated with iOS 10.3.4 in 2019.

The app’s inability to work shouldn’t come as a surprise to users, WhatsApp says on its support page. “Before we stop supporting your operating system, you’ll be notified directly in WhatsApp ahead of time and reminded a few times to upgrade.”

WhatsApp will also stop working on the LG Optimus, Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC Desire 500, and the Lenovo A820 by year’s end.

Source: WhatsApp Via: 9to5Mac

With another year nearing a close, it’s time to participate in MobileSyrup’s most beloved tradition: the favourite things list.

It’s your opportunity, dear reader, to get to know MobileSyrup’s editorial team a little better. While some of these lists, admittedly, might border into the territory of sharing too much information, they give team members like me the opportunity to share more about myself; a difficult task to complete in my everyday role as a telecom reporter.

Without further ado, here are my favourite things of 2022.

Blockbuster

The Netflix show based on the once-popular video rental store highlighted some of my favourite acts. Set in the last Blockbuster ever, it featured Randall Park as the leader of a team of employees who mostly wanted to keep rented videos alive. The show only lasted one season, and the overall reviews explain why. But I’m part of the minority who enjoyed the show and found it a nice, light-hearted laugh. Yes, the plot has elements found in many other shows: a hard-working team, a love triangle, and angry teenagers, which might explain its lack of popularity. I’m a creature of habit and gravitate towards shows like this, but if you’re looking for something action-packed, this might not be the best option for you.

Apple Watch SE (2nd gen)

I will forever remember 2022 as the year I purchased my first smartwatch. While some might say I’m late to the game, I found myself never actually wanting such a device until recently. I’ve never been a watch wearer or a fitness junky, and the need to have the newest technology at my fingertips never appealed to me. But when Apple rolled out its latest line of Apple watches, I was intrigued. They were among the devices to feature Emergency SOS and Crash Detection, two tools I really wanted to have access to. But that didn’t mean I wanted to break the bank, which made the Apple Watch SE the ideal option. While I’m still exploring all the features, I can definitely say I love the device.

Don’t Pick Up the Phone

If you’re looking for a Netflix show based on a true crime story, Don’t Pick Up the Phone has to be your next option. It looks into a string of hoax calls one scammer made to fast-food restaurants across the United States, tricking managers into performing employee strip searches. It’s frustrating to watch, and the lack of justice for the victims makes it worse. But it shows an interesting side of human psychology and how some people are prone to blindly follow authoritative bodies, no matter the circumstances.

Scene+

I’ve been a Scene member ever since the concept of using 1,000 points to get a general admission ticket was a thing. While I was a frequent collector in high school, I can’t say I’ve been to the movies much or used my Scene card in recent years, which is why I’m a fan of Scene+. For those of you who don’t know, Scene+ is Cineplex’s revamped point program. While you can no longer watch a movie for 1,000 points, unfortunately, you can earn points in several other ways, like at participating grocery stores and restaurants. While Scene+ isn’t new, the program has added new places to earn rewards this year, which is what originally caught my attention. As someone who likes to save where I can and prefers to watch movies in the comfort of my own home, programs like Scene+ are right up my alley.

iPadOS 16

Image credit: Apple

As a devoted iPad user, nothing makes me happier than the iPadOS 16 update. One of the most used apps on my iPhone is the weather app, and the fact that I can check that out on my iPad now makes me very happy. In my opinion, updates for iPads always lacked behind the updates for iPhones. This was a confusing move, given the ample screen provided by the iPad made some functions so much easier compared to an iPhone. I can safely say the updated Safari, home screen, and availability of Live Text put my confusion behind me

Gamers can claim Dishonored – Definitive Edition for free on the Epic Games store until January 5th as part of the current rotation of free titles.

Alongside Dishonored is a game called Eximius, which is also free until January 5th. Eximius is described as a hybrid first-person shooter (FPS) and real-time strategy (RTS) game.

Dishonored, on the other hand, is the well-received 2012 title from developer Arkane Studios and publisher Bethesda. It’s a first-person action game where players take on the role of a supernatural assassin. One of the main positives of Dishonored was the freedom in how players could complete the missions.

Moreover, the Definitive Edition includes updated graphics and access to the DLCs.

Dishonored – Definitive Edition typically costs $26.99, while Eximius usually costs $33.99. At 11am on January 5th, the Epic Games Store will rotate the free selection of games — Kerbal Space Program and Shadow Tactics – Aiko’s Choice will be free from January 5th to 12th.

Image credit: Epic Games Store

2022 saw the release of several new gaming accessories and peripherals from the likes of giants like Razer, Microsoft, Turtle Beach and more.

From gaming controllers and headphones to mice and LED lights for your gaming space, here are some of the best gaming accessories MobileSyrup covered in 2022.

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2

The Turtle Beach Steal 700 Gen 2s are one of the more comfy gaming headsets we reviewed this year. Their ear cups are made of a black synthetic leather with memory foam cushioning that feels firm and cups your ear well, while a layer of “Aerofit” cooling gel lined into the ear cushion helps keep your head and ears cool during extended gaming sessions.

The headset’s main strength is its compatibility. The headphones are officially licensed by Microsoft for the Xbox, so it’s a given that they work well with Microsoft’s consoles. However, they work equally well with the PlayStation 4 and 5, Switch and PC, thanks to the included 2.4GHz mini-USB transmitter.

The headphones can pair with your devices using Bluetooth too, which means they work with your Android and iOS smartphones, and feature impressive 40+ hours of battery life on a single charge.

On the audio side of things, “the headset offers distortion-free highs and booming full-body bass that you can feel. I could hear every little detail in the games I tested, and it made for an engaging experience,” reads our review of the headset. 

Read the complete review here for in-depth information about the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2s.

The headset is available at the Turtle Beach store and on Amazon for $199.99.

Razer Basilisk V3 Pro

The Razer Basilisk V3 Pro was released in August this year, and has quickly become one of the best gaming mice on the market. The Basilisk V3 Pro sports a HyperScroll Tilt Wheel, Optical Mouse Switches Gen-3, a ton of programmable buttons, Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor, and all the RGB lighting you could want in a gaming mouse.

The Basilisk V3 Pro sports a USB-C port on the front, so you can plug it in and use it while charging, or you can choose to purchase an additional dock to charge the mouse wirelessly. It features a thumb button for activating the ‘Sensitivity Clutch,’ a feature to temporarily reduce or increase mouse sensitivity.

Further, similar to most modern gaming mice, the Basilisk V3 Pro features a DPI button to cycle through different sensitivities. However, what’s impressive is that the Basilisk V3 shows the DPI on your computer screen when cycling. This is much more accessible than showing a little LED light with a different colour for each DPI setting, especially since those LED presets are always hard to remember.

You can learn more about Basilisk V3 Pro here. The mouse starts at $219.99.

Razer Viper V2 Pro

Unlike the Basilisk V3 Pro, Razer took a more minimalist approach with the Viper V2 Pro. The Viper V2 Pro gaming mouse combines the company’s technical prowess with a fluff-less layout that makes the mouse suitable for those looking for a high-performance mouse and nothing more.

The mouse has no RGB lights, allowing Razer to get rid of the extra weight they carry. It weighs in at just 58g, making it one of the lighter gaming mice on the market. The omission of two side buttons on the right, while retaining the side buttons on the left also allow the mouse to boast a lower weight.

On the battery side of things, according to Razer, the battery is good for eighty hours per charge. In my experience, however, the fifty- to sixty-hour mark seems to be the more accurate battery life for the Viper V2 Pro. Viper V2 Pro features Razer’s latest Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor that allows the mouse to reach a peak DPI of 30,000 and comfortably track when used directly on your table, glass or a mousepad.

If you’re looking for an ultra-lightweight gaming mouse, without all the extra fluff, the Viper V2 Pro is a solid contender.

Learn more about the gaming mouse here.

The Viper V2 Pro is available at Razer’s website and Best Buy in Black and White colourways for $189.99 and $161.98, respectively.

Microsoft’s custom Xbox Elite Series 2 controller

Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Series 2 controller is notorious for quality control issues. Although it is considered one of the best controllers ever by MobileSyrup editor-in-chief Patrick O’Rourke, the Elite Series 2’s faulty hardware makes it hard to recommend.

That changed with Microsoft’s new custom Design Lab Elite Series 2 gamepad.

It is unclear if Microsoft is using a different part supplier or manufacturing process for the Design Lab Elite Series 2. However, it seems the tech giant has solved the controller’s hardware issues.

For those unaware, the Elite Series 2 charges through USB-C, features Bluetooth connectivity and includes thumbsticks with adjustable tension. In total, the gamepad comes with six replaceable thumbsticks, including two standard ones, two that are similar to the Xbox 360 controller, alongside a tall and wider-ridged option. Additionally, you can also swap the D-Pad for a circular version.

On the battery side of things, the controller is good for roughly 40 hours per charge, while compatibility with iOS, Android, PC and even Apple TV makes the controller a versatile choice.

The Design Lab Elite Series 2 starts at $149.99 for the base controller, which doesn’t include paddles or additional thumbsticks. The version that offers all of the accessories starts at $209.99.

Follow the link to learn more about Microsoft’s new custom Design Lab Elite Series 2 gamepad.

Govee DreamView G1 Pro

Govee’s DreamView G1 Pro isn’t necessarily a gaming accessory, but instead, it decorates your gaming space.

The DreamView G1 Pro is a set of two light bars that go on each side of your PC monitor, paired with a fish-eye lens camera that sits on top of your monitor. The camera scans for colours on your screen, and tries to replicate them out of the light bars. In addition, with the G1 Pro, you also get a tube-like LED light strip that attaches to the back of your monitor, which also replicates the colours on your screen.

The light bars are sleek, but their output is very bright and punchy, and the same goes for the rear-attached light tube.

Their brightness can be adjusted from the Govee Home app, and I doubt you’ll ever have them cranked up to a hundred. The app also lets you control the lights you want to use.

It features several modes, including video mode (that replicates the colour on your screen), ‘Music’ mode that changes the light colour depending on audio cues, ‘Colour’ mode, that lets you independently choose colours for the bars and the tube light, and a ‘Scene’ mode with several presets.

Learn more about the DreamView G1 Pro here.

Razer Huntsman Mini

Razer’s Huntsman Mini is a 60 percent wired keyboard with 61 optical-mechanical (purple) switches. It ditches the number pad, arrow keys and the function keys, giving you access only to the keys that matter while gaming.

The keycaps on the Huntsman Mini are Razer’s ‘Doubleshot PBT’ keycaps with a textured finish that feel great to press, and aren’t as loud as a traditional mechanical keyboard but still offer the right amount of sound feedback. The keyboard connects to your PC through the accompanying braided USB Type-C cable that is long enough to be tucked away. The cable isn’t proprietary, and any Type-C cable that you own will do the work if you wish to mix things up.

Like a true gamer gadget, the keyboard features backlit RGB, with the keyboard offering a wide range of colours and effects to choose from directly in the Razer Synapse application.

The Razer Huntsman Mini is currently available to order from Amazon and Best Buy for $142.98.

Learn more about the 60 percent keyboard here.

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

On what would have been Stan Lee’s 100th birthday, Marvel announced that a documentary on Lee’s life would come to Disney+ in 2023.

Marvel didn’t provide much more information than that about the documentary, although it did share a 25-second teaser as well:

Lee co-created many iconic Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Panther, Hulk, X-Men, Thor, Silver Surfer, Ant-Man, Nick Fury, and more.

Lee started at Marvel’s predecessor, Timely Comics, in 1939. Over the next several decades, Lee went from interim editor to editor, and in the ’60s became the writer and editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Lee was named publisher in 1972 and eventually became the face of the company. Lee also made several appearances in Marvel film and television projects.

Lee died in November 2018 at the age of 95.

Look for the documentary, titled Stan Lee, on Disney+ next year.

Header image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Marvel

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has officially launched the Matter standard, which allows compliant Internet of Things (IoT) devices to communicate with one another, so consumers can buy connected devices without having to worry if they’re compatible with an existing system.

Device manufacturers should comply with the Matter standard to ensure their devices are compatible with smart home and voice services such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and others.

For example, if someone buys a Matter-supported smart bulb and uses Apple Homekit, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa to set it up, they don’t have to worry about compatibility. Matter compliance simplifies the setup process, using any choice of device and the capacity to give control to other people in their space in a platform-agnostic way. A user might only use Apple products, but Matter lets others also control the smart systems from an Android device, an article on Computer World noted. 

Speaking at the Matter launch event in Amsterdam in November, Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, explained why the the standard may be an important moment to the future Industry of Things (IoT).

“The next phase of growth in the smart home will be based on standards,” he said.

Wood added that 37 per cent of households have at least one smart home device, Spain being the leading European market, with 46 per cent adoption. In the U.S., where 36 per cent of homes have at least one smart device, smart doorbells and CCTV systems are popular.

The organization also announced that over 190 products are now certified, or close to gaining certification, in the first Matter categories, which include smart lighting, smart plugs, smart thermostats, smart shades, smart sensors, and smart locks. 

In addition, CSA announced four new device categories to be rolled out soon in addition to the cameras, home appliances, robot vacuums, and more advanced energy management categories already announced. These include garage door controllers and electronic gates, environmental quality sensors and controls, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and ambient motion and presence sensing.

The CSA emphasized this aspect during its presentation, making clear that users will be able to buy any Matter-certified device and set it up, and never have to worry about compatibility. The alliance also noted that smart homes can be controlled with the users’ preferred app —whether that’s Google Home, Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings, or via voice on Amazon Alexa.

During the latest announcement, several companies announced new products with Matter support or vowed to update their existing devices and smart home hubs to work with the new protocol. 

Companies supporting Matter include:

Amazon: The company announced that it will support Matter over Wi-Fi this year and bring the standard to 17 Echo devices as well as its plugs, switches, and bulbs. 

Aqara: Aqara, which is known for its Zigbee smart home hubs, will offer Matter support on its existing product in December and launch brand-new Thread-enabled devices in 2023.

Brilliant: The smart home and lighting company, Brilliant, announced that it’s joining the CSA and that it will bring Matter support to its products in 2023. 

Nanoleaf: The company showcased four new Matter-compatible smart bulbs and light strips as part of its Essential lineup at the event. They will launch globally in early 2023.

Schneider Electric: Energy management company Schneider Electric said that it will make its future devices Matter-certified.

The post The new Matter standard and what it means for smart home devices first appeared on IT World Canada.

Security experts are calling LastPass out on its “misleading” December security breach update.

The breach originates from an incident in August that led to a subsequent breach in November, where cyber criminals gained access to user password vaults. LastPass posted two updates since August, with the latter one coming earlier this month. The company said there was no cause for concern as passwords remain encrypted. While hackers could use brute force to access master passwords, LastPass said it “would take millions of years to guess” if the company’s best practices for passwords were followed.

Jeffrey Goldberg, the Principal Security Architect at 1Password, said the “claim is highly misleading.” The statement assumes users randomly generated their own master passwords, which Goldberg said people aren’t very good at doing.

“Unless your password was created by a good password generator, it is trackable,” Goldberg wrote in a blog post. The best practices LastPass mentions don’t include anything about a password generator, which Goldberg insinuates is the way to create uncrackable passwords.

It also isn’t expensive to guess passwords, Goldberg wrote, with 10 billion guesses equaling $100 USD (roughly $135 Canadian).

“Given that the attacker is starting with the most likely human-created passwords first, that $100 worth of effort is likely to get results unless the password was machine generated.”

LastPass’ transparency claims have also been called out. Security researcher Wladimir Palant called out the company’s “commitment to transparency.” LastPass stated its updates were to remain transparent to its customers. However,  Palant wrote in a blog post that LastPass has to share data breaches immediately under U.S. law.

He further accused the company of portraying the August breach and November incident as two separate events. In reality, LastPass could not contain the August breach. “Because of that failure, people’s data is now gone,” Palant wrote.

Source: 1Password, Wladimir Palant Via: The Verge 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: best-of lists. There’s just something oddly therapeutic about putting these together and celebrating the year that was with others.

In the case of MobileSyrup‘s traditional annual ‘Favourite Things’ lists, it’s a chance to write about subjects beyond the purview of tech. This can be anything, really, but I’ve always liked to structure mine around one entertainment title per medium to keep things interesting. And boy, was 2022 a great year in this regard. Whether it was the end of one of my all-time favourite franchises, a reintroduction to a wonderful subset of cinema or that time I bonded with Kratos himself, this year was quite memorable — here’s why.

Favourite game: God of War Ragnarök

There are a lot of “father stories” in games, but God of War Ragnarök is easily my favourite. (Image credit: PlayStation)

I played around 50 new games this year, but God of War Ragnarök is easily my favourite. From its incredible and emotionally-charged narrative to engrossing and visceral combat, it’s a genuine masterpiece. But I’ve written about Ragnarök extensively at this point, and I’m not sure what else to say in regards to the game itself.

Instead, I want to touch on my experience following its release. Earlier this month, I wrote a personal essay about game’s central father-son story, which I related to more deeply than almost any other in gaming. Now, I was pretty nervous putting out that piece; I don’t talk about my “daddy issues” often, and I’d certainly never written about them publicly at length. Thankfully, the response to my piece was nothing short of incredible. First, Matt Sophos, Ragnarök‘s narrative lead, tweeted it alongside some lovely words. Having even one of the key creatives behind something so important to me saying such things was heartwarming and more than I could have imagined. And then he saw it.

Chris Judge — what a class act.

Yep, Kratos himself, Christopher Judge, saw Sophos’ tweet and shared his own response. I was stunned. His soulful performance across 2018’s God of War and Ragnarök — so intense and commanding, yet wonderfully soft and understated — resonated strongly with me, so to have him give what was easily the kindest and most profound response to anything I’ve ever written just moved me. Naturally, such exposure led to my piece blowing up a little bit, and I was elated to have so many people share stories about their own fathers and express gratitude towards Judge and me. Nowadays, people are so quick to be nasty online, especially when you express any sort of emotional vulnerability, but I was overjoyed to see such universally positive reception.

Oh, and the week later, I actually got to thank Judge in person at The Game Awards after he won Best Performance and delivered a lengthy-but-beautiful speech. (Shoutout to CGM‘s Dayna Eileen for getting his attention while I stood there meekly!)
Video games have such a uniquely powerful ability to bring people together, and my entire Ragnarök experience was the perfect example of that.

Honourable mentions: Live A Live, Citizen Sleeper, Pentiment, Horizon Forbidden West

Favourite movie: RRR

The “Naatu Naatu” dance number in RRR is the most purely joyful and smile-inducing scene in any movie I’ve seen all year. (Image credit: Variance Films)

In a sense, this was both the easiest and toughest decision to make, as there are so many films that could have taken this spot for me. Everything Everywhere All At Once for its tonally audacious exploration of generational trauma. Aftersun for its hauntingly beautiful exploration of a child’s empathy towards her struggling father. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On for being just so damn cute and heartwarming.

Ultimately, though, S. S. Rajamouli’s RRR encapsulates everything I love about movies. It has an utterly endearing friendship between Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Raju (Ram Charan), a genuinely wholesome platonic pairing of two men unafraid to express raw emotion that feels so needed amid ongoing toxic masculinity. It has an incredible, delightfully over-the-top action setpieces that mix practical and visual effects in such a convincing way that it puts most of Hollywood to shame. It even has outstanding, make-you-get-up-and-dance-in-the-theatre-worthy musical sequences, including the absolutely rousing “Naatu Naatu.”

But beyond all of that, RRR actually had me feeling rather wistful. Growing up, much of my time with my dad’s side of the family consisted of watching Bollywood movies, and I have fond memories of watching them. That said, I’ve steered clear of those kinds of movies because I’ve since fallen out with that family and there’s baggage there. Watching RRR, however, I was reminded that there’s an entire world of Indian cinema that I’ve been missing out on. In many ways, I felt exactly like I was living out the Ratatouille meme, and that was just icing on the cake for such a joyful and thrilling movie.

Honourable mentions: Aftersun, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Banshees of Inisherin, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Favourite TV show: Better Call Saul

The relationship between Jimmy and Kim is the beating heart of Better Call Saul. (Image credit: AMC)

When people used to argue whether Better Call Saul was better than Breaking Bad, I would steadfastly stick with the latter, my all-time favourite series. But by the end of the Breaking Bad prequel’s six-season run, I am happy to say, definitively, that it’s easily better.

Sure, it has everything you loved about Breaking Bad — the rich plotting, stunning cinematography, top-notch performances and exquisite antihero characterization. But it does all of that and more. In a feat of utter brilliance, co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould took a clownish supporting character, Bob Odenkirk’s Saul Goodman, and made him more layered and interesting that Walter White. If Walt was a time bomb, Jimmy was a man in quicksand, slowly sinking while trying to claw himself out, and making his morality struggle even more fascinating as a result. Nowhere was that more apparent than in Season 6, where we see how Jimmy’s past failures inform where he ends up in the show’s post-Breaking Bad scenes. Through sharp writing and Odenkirk’s masterfully complex performance, Jimmy remains sympathetic even at his lowest, and it made for some gripping television.

And best of all, Jimmy’s not even the best character — that would be his partner, Kim Wexler, brought to life through a criminally overlooked, awards-worthy performance by Rhea Seehorn. Like Jimmy, her innate decency is put in constant conflict with a surprising mischievous side, and the ways in which she struggles with that are captivating. Fans knew going in that she’s not around come the events of Breaking Bad, but Gould, Gilligan and co. ensure that the directions they take her in are always far more compelling than you might have expected. All the while, supporting characters like Howard (Patrick Fabian), Nacho (Canada’s Michael Mando) and Breaking Bad favourite Mike (Jonathan Banks) go through their own surprising-yet-satisfying arcs. That’s to say nothing of Lalo (Tony Dalton), a dastardly charming villain who proved a brilliant foil to Giancarlo Esposito’s more measured Gus Fring.

After nearly 15 years, it seems like Gilligan and Gould are ready to leave Albuquerque behind with Better Call Saul, but man, what an unforgettable ride it’s been.

Honourable mentions: Severance, Andor, The Afterparty, Under the Banner of Heaven

Podcast: The Movie Podcast

#TheMoviePodcast team had the honour of attending the The Lord of the Rings: #TheRingsOfPower Los Angeles red carpet and premiere.

Thank you to @PrimeVideoCA for the opportunity. Stay tuned for all our coverage and junket interviews very soon. @LOTRonPrime arrives September 2. pic.twitter.com/7RFT9kdGmn

— The Movie Podcast @ CinemaCon (@TheMoviePodcast) August 17, 2022

One of the good things to come out of COVID for me was the discovery of more podcasts in my free time. One of my favourites of these has been The Movie Podcast, hosted by Daniel, Shahbaz and Anthony. The gents are all likeable and share a winsome rapport as they produce reviews, interviews and more on movies and TV, making every episode a real treat.

But what I most admire is how much they’ve built up the show this year. This started off as an independent passion project from a few Canadian boys, and it’s grown into something much bigger and more impressive. I’m in awe of the opportunities that have come their way as the result of their hard work, including interviews with the likes of Canada’s Hayden Christensen and Deborah Chow (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), as well as Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke (Raymond & Ray), Sam Raimi and Michael Waldron (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), almost the entire Mythic Quest cast, Michael Giacchino (for both Werewolf by Night and Lightyear), Brendan Fraser (The Whale) and many more. As someone who’s been trying to do more interviews lately, I find their journey truly inspiring, and I’m excited to see what they do in 2023.

Podcasts: Play, Watch, Listen, Smartless, Better Call Saul Insider Podcast, Video Game Writing 101

Book: We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story

Guys I think I made finally made her proud pic.twitter.com/EnC4mvyfiV

— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) May 17, 2022

At first glance, it might be weird to see a 33-year-old writing a memoir, especially less than a year after leading a Marvel movie. But We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, isn’t really about Simu Liu. Instead, the Canada-raised actor uses the book to pen a lovely, inspiring tribute to his parents, who emigrated from China when he was just four years old with hopes of a better life, which, in turn, paved the way for him to become Shang-Chi.

If there’s one theme among my more personal writing lately, it’s the idea of a young adult looking back on their formative years to gain a more nuanced and empathetic perspective on the people who populated it. That’s We Were Dreamers to a tee — Liu reflecting on his many early conflicts with his parents to come to a deeper appreciation for everything they did. It’s Liu being far more mature, earnest and funny than the Twitter folk who routinely hate on him for stupid years-old comments would lead you to believe, and it makes for an engrossing read. (The anecdotes about his life as a struggling actor and work on the likes of Kim’s Convenience are also quite fun.)

Above all else, though, We Were Dreamers also got me thinking more about my own family. My dad’s side came to Canada from Guyana when he just a few years old, while my mum’s parents were in their early ’20s when they came from Scotland. That’s something I, who’s only ever known Canada as home, have always taken for granted — that terrifying uprooting of your entire life on what’s effectively a colossal gamble in a completely different place. As a result, I found myself more grateful and proud — not only of what they went through, but the countless immigrant families who have done the same. We could all use a little more empathy in this world, and I’m grateful for Liu’s book for giving me just that.

Honourable mentions: I didn’t read too much this year, admittedly, so I’ll shout out Reggie Fils-Aimé’s Disrupting the Game

Header image credit: AMC/Variance Films/PlayStation

Several Pixel 7 owners have complained on social media about the phone’s rear camera glass shattering spontaneously.

As spotted by Android Police, reports from across Twitter and Reddit detail Pixel 7 owners’ experiences with the camera glass suddenly cracking or shattering. The majority of people claim they didn’t bump their phone into anything and that they didn’t drop it. Some complaints point to a sudden change in temperature as the potential culprit for the shattering glass.

If significant temperature changes are the culprit here, it could explain why the issue started showing up now. Over the last few weeks, many places in North America have experienced lower temperatures, thanks in part to a wicked winter storm. We may continue to see reports of this problem as winter continues. So far, my Pixel 7’s camera glass has remained intact, but that could change if I need to spend time outside on a particularly cold day.

Unfortunately for Pixel 7 owners, Google hasn’t publicly acknowledged the problem is a manufacturing defect, although support did assure one Pixel 7 owner that the company was aware of the issue. Some of the reports include details of frustrating interactions with Google’s support. Some of those ended with support telling people the damage was their fault and they would need to pay upwards of $400 USD (roughly $542 CAD) to replace the entire back panel. Others got lucky and Google support agreed to replace their phones.

If Google decides the problem is a manufacturing defect — it seems like it is to me, but unfortunately, it’s not up to me — then affected Pixel 7 owners will be able to get their phones fixed under warranty. Hopefully, Google will make that decision sooner rather than later.

Source: Reddit, (2), Twitter, (2), (3), (4) Via: Android Police