#NewsBytesWeeklyRecap: OnePlus breach, Facebook's facial recognition, WhatsApp's bug, and more
The fourth week of November was pretty much quiet but we did get some concerning news from different corners of the tech sphere. First, like every week, there were a few cases of bugs, security flaws. Then, in a shocker, Facebook admitted to developing a facial recognition tech, while OnePlus acknowledged a major security breach. Let's look at everything that happened this past week.
OnePlus acknowledged a major data breach
On Friday, OnePlus acknowledged a major breach, claiming that an unauthorized party accessed its system using the OnePlus web store. The company didn't say how many users were compromised but it did note that the attacker gained access to some users' confidential order information including their names, emails, home addresses, and phone numbers. It added that the affected users are now being notified.
Facebook's facial recognition, vulnerable apps
After OnePlus, Facebook was the one that drew a lot of flak. The first reason was the company's work between 2015 and 2016 on a creepy facial recognition system capable of identifying people active on the social network. Then, in another case, Check Point flagged years-old vulnerabilities that hackers could easily exploit to steal posts or location data of unsuspecting Facebook and Instagram users.
WhatsApp also had a scary bug
Facebook's popular messaging service WhatsApp was also found to be carrying a critical bug. The issue triggered with a simple MP4 video and opened a way for attackers to remotely execute malicious code or conduct denial of service (DoS) cyber-attack on your device. However, thankfully, the company has now fixed the issue with the latest version of the app for Android and iOS.
Facebook took some positive steps too
Apart from all the controversial stuff, Facebook also did some good by taking action against an app that allowed people to unlock private Instagram profiles. Plus, it also unveiled a new (and seemingly fun) app for creating memes.
Then, Google had a few surprises
Google, on its part, came up with a few surprises, including a new way for parents to read stories to their kids from any part of the world. The internet giant also took down an 'anti-India' app on the call of Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh and announced a new bug bounty worth $1.5 million for finding vulnerabilities in Pixel phones.
Finally, some launches to wrap up the week
Though there weren't any flagship launches, we did witness a few mid-rangers, including Vivo Y19, Lenovo Z6 Pro 5G, Samsung W20 5G, Realme 5s, and Realme X2 Pro. Among other things, Xiaomi released Android TV 9 update for old Mi TV series; and Nokia 2.2 and Honor 20i received price cut. Plus, there were rumors of Flipkart launching a Nokia-branded Android TV in December.
