Sunday☕️

Time Is Money

Jun 2, 2024 • 6 min read

Trending:

Google Chrome Vulnerability
Biden Vetoes Crypto Legislation

Week Recap:

On Tuesday, an explosion at a Chase Bank in Youngstown, Ohio, resulted in at least seven injuries and left one dead. The blast, which occurred around 3 pm, severely damaged the ground floor of the Realty building on E. Federal Street, where the bank is located, as described by witnesses.
xAI, established by Elon Musk, secured $6 billion in a Series B funding round, attracting investment from Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, and Kingdom Holding. This funding round reflects strong market confidence in xAI's technological advancements and future potential.
AWS and Orange announced on Wednesday that they are partnering to offer cloud computing services in Morocco and Senegal using the AWS Wavelength platform. This marks the first time these services will be available in countries without AWS’s physical data centers, with Orange hosting the services in its own facilities. Driven by increasing demand from banks, telecom firms, and healthcare providers, Africa's cloud market is projected to grow by 15% annually, reaching $18 billion by 2028, according to Statista.
A New York jury has convicted Donald Trump on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, marking the first time a former U.S. president has been convicted of a crime. The verdict was read in the Manhattan courtroom where Trump had been on trial since April 15. He pleaded not guilty to all counts, which were related to a hush money payment made by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election. The jury reached its decision after 9.5 hours of deliberation, which began on Wednesday.
OpenAI has announced the formation of a new Safety and Security Committee to enhance the safety and security framework for all its projects and operations. The committee is led by directors Bret Taylor, Adam D’Angelo, Nicole Seligman, and CEO Sam Altman. Their primary responsibility is to make recommendations to the full Board on important safety and security decisions within the next 90 days.
The BBC is investigating a data breach that has exposed the personal details of over 25,000 current and former employees. The corporation’s pension scheme informed members that their details had been stolen in a security incident. Approximately 25,290 individuals were affected, with the compromised data including names, dates of birth, sex, home addresses, national insurance numbers, and membership status in the BBC pension scheme.
Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance, has reported to a low-security federal prison in Lompoc, California. CNBC confirmed with Zhao's defense team at Latham & Watkins that the former crypto executive is now in custody. In April, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his cryptocurrency exchange.

Google Chrome Vulnerability:

The U.S. government has issued a directive for federal employees to update or delete their Google Chrome browser within the next 72 hours due to critical security vulnerabilities. This follows a series of emergency updates released in May to address four significant zero-day vulnerabilities. The first deadline for these updates is June 3, making immediate action necessary. Google responded quickly to these vulnerabilities by releasing updates, but users must also close and relaunch their browser to ensure the updates are applied effectively.
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added these vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, highlighting their active exploitation. The first reported vulnerability, a use after free in Visuals, allows remote attackers to exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. This issue affects multiple web browsers using the Chromium engine, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. A use after free vulnerability involves a latent memory pointer that can be exploited to execute malicious code or destabilize the platform. CISA has instructed federal employees to apply vendor updates or discontinue using the browser if updates are unavailable.
While the June 3 deadline specifically targets U.S. federal agencies, other organizations and home users are strongly encouraged to follow suit. Updating to the latest version of Chrome (125.0.6422.112/.113 for Windows and Mac, 125.0.6422.112 for Linux) will ensure all security patches are applied. Additional Chrome zero-days—CVE-2024-4761, CVE-2024-4947, and CVE-2024-5274—have deadlines of June 6, June 10, and June 16, respectively. It is essential to update Chrome promptly to maintain security and prevent potential cyberattacks.

Joe Biden Vetoes Crypto Legislation:

President Joe Biden has vetoed H.J.Res. 109, a congressional resolution designed to challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) guidelines on how banks manage cryptocurrency. This resolution targeted the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which mandates that banks must treat customers' crypto assets as liabilities. Banking organizations have argued that this requirement makes it too costly for them to handle cryptocurrency, whereas regulators insist it is necessary to protect investors, particularly in light of recent failures of high-profile crypto companies like FTX.
In defending his veto, Biden stated that the SEC's guidance in SAB 121 represents carefully considered technical advice regarding the accounting responsibilities of firms that safeguard crypto assets. He argued that the resolution, led by Republicans, would unduly restrict the SEC's ability to establish necessary regulatory standards and address future challenges. Biden affirmed that his administration will not endorse measures that could endanger consumer and investor safety.
Although H.J.Res. 109 received significant support from Republicans, it also saw backing from several Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Representative Mike Flood, who introduced the resolution, contended that Biden should reconsider his veto due to the strong opposition to SAB 121 from banking groups, financial industry lobbyists, and crypto advocates. These groups claim that SAB 121 effectively bars regulated banks from offering digital asset custody services on a large scale.

Statistic: