Hasta La Gadget!

The year is 2022. Cars have Bluetooth. Phones have Bluetooth. So, logically(?), Ford is asking: Can Bluetooth protect pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable, non-car people from being struck by its vehicles?

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A Baltimore judge on Monday overturned the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, the man whose murder conviction served as the subject for the popular Serial podcast. Syed has spent over two decades behind bars serving a life sentence after prosecutors accused him of strangling and murdering his ex-girlfriend when he was…

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A Baltimore judge has overturned the conviction of Adnan Syed, reports The Associated Press. The 41-year-old had been serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of his former girlfriend Hae Min Lee. In 2014, his case attracted international interest after it was chronicled by former Baltimore Sun reporter Sarah Koenig in the first season of the hit podcast Serial.

Koenig spent more than a year investigating the specifics of Syed’s case, focusing in particular on the conduct of his lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez. In 2019, Maryland’s highest court found Gutierrez had failed to properly investigate an alibi witness but voted against granting Syed’s request for a retrial. However, prosecutors recently recommended that a judge grant him a new trial, noting the state had lost “confidence in the integrity of the conviction.” With Monday’s decision, the state has 30 days to decide whether to move forward with a new trial or drop the case entirely.

“This is not a podcast for me,” said Young Lee, the brother of Hae Min Lee, during Monday’s hearing. He said his family felt “betrayed” and “blindsided” by the state’s motion to vacate Syed’s conviction. “Whenever I think it’s over, and it’s ended, it always comes back,” he added.

Following the decision, Serialannounced it would air a new episode on Tuesday morning. In the years since its widely successful first season, Serial has produced a series of spinoffs, including S-Town and The Trojan Horse Affair. More broadly, it’s safe to say the true crime genre and podcasting more generally have never been more popular – even if the series was never quite able to replicate the success of its first season. 

SpaceX’s satellite-based internet service is growing rapidly, and underscoring that effort is a new milestone that should excite those who are still waiting.

Uber believes it has identified the team behind last week’s hack, and the name will sound all too familiar. In an update on the breach, Uber said the perpetrator was affiliated with Lapsus$, the hacking group that has targeted tech firms like Microsoft, Samsung and T-Mobile. The same intruder might also have been responsible for the Rockstar hack that leaked Grand Theft Auto VI, Uber said.

It’s also clearer just how the culprit may have accessed Uber’s internal systems. The attacker likely bought the contractor’s login details on the dark web after they’d been exposed through a malware-infected computer. Two-factor authentication initially prevented the hacker from getting in, but the contractor accepted an authentication request — that was enough to help the invader compromise employee accounts and, in turn, abuse company apps like Google Workspace and Slack.

As before, Uber stressed that the hacker didn’t access public-facing systems or user accounts. The codebase also remains untouched. While those responsible did compromise Uber’s bug bounty program, any vulnerability reports involved have been “remediated.” Uber contained the hack by limiting compromised accounts, temporarily disabling tools and resetting access to services. There’s also extra monitoring for unusual activity.

The incident update suggests the damage to Uber is relatively limited. However, it also indicates that Lapsus$ is still hacking high-profile targets despite arrests. It also underscores major tech companies’ continued vulnerability to hacks. In this case, one wrong move by a contractor was all it took to disrupt Uber’s operations.