TikTok Ban Sparks Rise of RedNote in the US

As TikTok faces a critical Supreme Court hearing this Sunday (over an immediate nationwide ban), The app’s uncertain future has ignited debates about national security and could reshape the US social media landscape if a shutdown is enforced.

Amid this turmoil, China’s RedNote (Xiaohongshu) app is rapidly gaining popularity and users, termed as "Tiktok refugees" are shifting to RedNote en masse.
With innovative features and an expanding user base, RedNote is positioning itself as a strong alternative to TikTok. Although some believe the migration to RedNote is just a short fad, its growth is undeniable and could change everything considering this is the first time Americans and Chinese are on one platform which is behind the great Chinese firewall.

Personally I think xiaohongshu is great(yes it works in India, and the Chinese on the app are obsessed with cats)

🔗 [Business Standard: TikTok Ban Hearing]
🔗 [CNN: RedNote Popularity Rises]
👨‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Apple's new feature: Made In Arizona

TSMC starts operations in their shiny new factory in Arizona for manufacturing 4nm chips.

In April, Commerce said TSMC expects to begin high-volume production in its first U.S. fab by the first half of 2025, finalizing a $6.6 billion grant in November to TSMC's U.S. unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona.

Raimondo wants the United States to make 20% of world's leading-edge logic chips by 2030 -- up from the 0% before TSMC began production in Arizona.

🔗 Reuters
👨‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Over 10 Million Google SSO Accounts under threat, and Google doesn't care

Security Researcher Dylan Ayrey of Truffle Security Co. has demonstrated in his write-up about how Google SSO can be simply broken, and has reported the issue to Google in September, but Google denied his claims and reopened the issue again in December with no updates.

Read the write-up here:
🔗 Truffle Security Co.
👨‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Microsoft plans to end support for Office on October 14th, 2025

As the push for Windows 11 continues, Microsoft is continuing to cut off support for the predecessor, Windows 10.

“Microsoft 365 apps will no longer be supported after October 14, 2025, on Windows 10 devices,” the company announced today. While it does mean the apps will still continue working (even if there are no guarantees), they will not receive any more updates, so, customers will have to adapt to either using the web version of Office, or, turn to FOSS alternatives such as LibreOffice. The recent standalone Microsoft Office 2024 package is available for Windows 10, though, and will be supported for at least a few years (Microsoft doesn't have an exact end-of-life date right now).

What is their motive to cut the updates? Well, they claim that "it is to improve performance and introduce new fixes, features and patches" and "anyone who doesn't update to Windows 11 puts their computer at risk".

🔗 How To Geek
🧑‍💻 @agamtecktricks

You're right, here's an update from nintendo...

👨‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Valve might be working on opening SteamOS for other devices

Valve Engineers have been already working on the open-source Nvidia drivers for Linux, and now with this news we can expect Valve to either release SteamOS for everyone or start licensing SteamOS to companies like ASUS for their own handheld devices.

🔗 Forbes
👨‍💻 @agamtechtricks

Linux Mint 22.1 is available to download! Take a sneak peek at it before you try!

https://news.itsfoss.com/linux-mint-22-1-features/

Flatpak 1.16 has a lot to offer. ⚡️

https://news.itsfoss.com/flatpak-1-16-linux/

Busting myths: Dual booting Linux and Windows is easier than you think!

https://itsfoss.com/dual-boot-myths/

Hindenburg is gone; what's next? 🤔

https://news.itsfoss.com/hindenburg-closing-open-source/

Interested in Cybersecurity and Malware Analysis?

Join ANY.RUN's channel for more tips, content, and statistics on active cyber threats

👉 https://t.me/anyrun_app

Make learning fun 😎

Learn key concepts of programming and machine learning while solving puzzles and playing games 🕹

Works on Linux with Steam 🐧

Get them here 👇

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AI at your fingertips: Linux powers Project DIGITS.

https://news.itsfoss.com/nvidia-project-digits/

🔴 Critical Alert: Microsoft has just released a massive patch for 161 vulnerabilities across its software, including 3 zero-day flaws that have been actively exploited.

⤷ CVE-2025-21333
⤷ CVE-2025-21334
⤷ CVE-2025-21335

Patch now: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/3-actively-exploited-zero-day-flaws.html

🚨 Critical Flaws Discovered in SimpleHelp Software!

An attacker could exploit these flaws to execute remote code, steal sensitive data, and bring your entire system down.

✅ Action required NOW:
⤷ SimpleHelp has released critical patches.
⤷ Change admin passwords immediately.
⤷ Restrict logins to trusted IP addresses.

Read: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/critical-simplehelp-flaws-allow-file.html

🔥 FBI removes PlugX malware from 4,250+ compromised computers.

$7 — that’s all it took for the FBI to sink a hacker-controlled server and trigger a "self-delete" command.

Learn more: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/fbi-deletes-plugx-malware-from-4250.html

🚨 Six critical security flaws disclosed in Rsync could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on clients.

Any server with a public mirror could be exploited, putting SSH keys and other critical files at risk.

Read the full advisory: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/google-cloud-researchers-uncover-flaws.html

⚠️ Cyber-attacks on ICS/OT are escalating—Are YOU prepared?

⤷ ICS/OT security demands custom strategies, not IT playbooks.
⤷ Cyber-attacks are growing, threatening power grids, water systems, and more.

👉 Check out the SANS Five ICS/OT Cybersecurity Critical Controls: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/the-high-stakes-disconnect-for-icsot.html

🔒 North Korean hackers behind IT worker fraud linked to 2016 crowdfunding scam!

These attacks aren’t slowing down. With DPRK-backed groups like Lazarus leading crypto thefts, the scale of cybercrime has reached alarming levels.

🔗 Read the full report: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/north-korean-it-worker-fraud-linked-to.html

🔴 Warning: North Korea’s Lazarus Group is targeting Web3 and cryptocurrency developers!

Fake recruiters on LinkedIn are tricking developers with “coding projects” that lead to malware.

👉 Learn more about their tactics: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/lazarus-group-targets-web3-developers.html

🧐 A new malvertising campaign is targeting businesses by stealing Google Ads credentials! Here’s how it works:

⤷ Ads that look legitimate lead to fraudulent login pages.
⤷ Phishers steal 2FA codes and credentials.
⤷ The goal? Hijack Google Ads accounts to run fraudulent ads.

🔗 Read more here: https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/google-ads-users-targeted-in.html