Hackers are finding ways to hide inside Apple’s walled garden

The one-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson has been approved in the US 

Sponsored by Darktrace The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Apple's hacking problem 03.01.21 Good morning! Today: how Apple's extraordinary security defenses can help hackers, Johnson & Johnson's one-shot covid-19 vaccine has been approved in the US, and how schools plan to close the pandemic education gap. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Hackers are finding ways to hide inside Apple’s walled garden   A double-edged sword: The locked-down nature of Apple’s tightly-controlled iOS is great at keeping almost all the usual bad guys out. But when the most advanced hackers do break in, something strange happens: Apple’s extraordinary defenses end up protecting the attackers. The problem: While the iPhone’s security is getting tighter, the best hackers have their own millions to buy or develop exploits that let them take over iPhones invisibly. And once they’re deep inside, the security becomes a barrier that keeps investigators from spotting or understanding nefarious behavior—to the point where security experts suspect they’re missing all but a small fraction of attacks because they cannot see behind the curtain. And it’s increasingly not just Apple. Android is going this way too, and Windows—introducing major opacity issues for security. Read the full story. —Patrick Howell O'Neill The one-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson has been approved in the US The news: The US Food and Drug Administration has formally approved the first single-shot covid-19 vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson. It is the third covid-19 vaccine to be authorized in the US. Besides only being one-shot, it has the additional advantage of being easy to store, because it requires nothing colder than ordinary refrigerator temperatures. Supply issues: Most Americans are still waiting to be vaccinated. At the current rate, it would take about a year to vaccinate the whole nation. In theory, an easily stored single-shot vaccine could kick up the pace. In practice, though, supply shortages of the J&J vaccine could limit the role it plays in the US vaccination campaign. In testimony before Congress, Johnson & Johnson said it will only deliver 20 million doses by the end of March. However: Vaccine shortages could turn to excess before summer, creating a situation in which it’s no longer vaccines that are in short supply, but people willing or eligible to receive them. Read the full story. —Antonio Regalado How schools plan to close the pandemic education gap US students would be in a far worse position if Zoom, Google Classroom, and other tech platforms weren’t keeping education afloat during the pandemic.  But it isn’t working well for everyone, and the heavy reliance on technology is creating greater inequalities across an already uneven playing field. Poor or rural students and those who have a learning disability face the biggest barriers with virtual and hybrid learning. Educators are worried that these students, who were most vulnerable before the pandemic, have been dealt a crippling blow. The silver lining: the crisis is spurring action to close some of these gaps once and for all. Weekend boot camps, evening classes, free broadband, and one-on-one tutoring are just some of the measures schools are trying out to help students catch up. Read the full story. —Chelsea Sheasley This story is from the latest issue of MIT Technology Review, which is all about progress. Read the full magazine, and subscribe if you don't already. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Candy love hearts, designed by AI.   + Angostura bitters don't just belong in cocktails. You can cook with it, too.    + Optical illusions created from everyday objects.    + Kermit performing Once in a Lifetime.    + "I'm a short afternoon walk and you're putting way too much pressure on me."    + Movie intros, sung acapella.    + A plumber in New Jersey drove all the way to Texas to help fix burst pipes.   + Alice Cooper on Detroit's rock'n'roll scene in the 1960s. Sponsor Message A new era of cyber-threat is here, using offensive AI to supercharge its attacks Offensive AI allows attackers to automate reconnaissance, craft tailored impersonation attacks, and even self-propagate to avoid detection. Security teams can prepare for this eventuality by turning to defensive AI to fight back – leveraging autonomous cyber defense that learns on the job to detect and respond to even the most subtle indicators of an attack, no matter where it appears. Tune in for our free webcast with experts from Darktrace, as we explore current and emerging applications of offensive AI, defensive AI, and the ongoing battle of algorithms between the two. Sign up to watch. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The trouble with vaccine passports There are many potential ethical issues—and they could offer a false sense of security. (WSJ $)   + How Israel's vaccine passport program is going. (The Guardian)   + Hungary has broken with the EU and started handing out Sinovac and Sputnik V vaccines. (Politico)   + So has the Czech Republic. (Al Jazeera)   + A senior German immunologist is urging his country to back the AstraZeneca jab for the over-65s. (BBC)  2 The pandemic mistakes our authorities keep repeating  The failure to explain aerosol-based transmission properly is right up there for me. (The Atlantic)   3 Black employees say Amazon has a race problem Everyone who spoke to Recode said they were hired at lower levels than their qualifications justify. (Recode)   + Couriers say Uber’s ‘racist’ facial recognition tech got them fired. (Wired UK)   4 How US manufacturers were hobbled by a chip shortage And why the underlying problems won't be solved for years. (WP $)   5 Why people love Clubhouse Essentially, because human beings enjoy talking to each other. (NBC)   + Clubhouse cured my imposter syndrome. (Wired $)   + Social media is moving beyond the feed. (OneZero $)   6 How Google's plan to make its own games failed 🎮 Essentially, it couldn’t stomach the expensive and complicated creative process. (Wired $)   7 Want to do your bit for the climate? Change your home heating system Replace your aging gas furnace with a new, electric appliance. (The Atlantic)   8 This AI brings old photos to life Gimmicky, a nice idea, or creepy? You decide. (The Verge)   9 Disposable cameras are back  But not as you know them. (NYT $)   + The appeal of vintage tech. (BBC)  10 The economy is booming… in Second Life 💸 Last year, players earned and cashed out $73 million. (Quartz)   + Radio Garden and Window Swap recapture the small joys of travel. (Wired UK) 3 weeks until our annual AI conference! Join us at EmTech Digital to get the engineering, organizational, and social know-how to successfully enable AI at your enterprise. Register now. Quote of the day “I grieve for her every day as if she is dead.”  —A woman in Florida tells the Washington Post about the impact of her mother's belief in QAnon. Top image credit: MS TECH | UNSPLASH Please send love hearts to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up for free Don't settle for half the story. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review for access to subscriber-only content and more.    Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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