Newark, NJ
News
Worldwide Ransomware Rampage: Iranians Hack NJ Town, PA Domestic Violence Shelter, Feds Charge Worldwide Ransomware Rampage: Iranians Hack NJ Town, PA Domestic Violence Shelter, Feds Charge
Worldwide Ransomware Rampage: Iranians Hack NJ Town, PA Domestic Violence Shelter, Feds Charge Federal authorities are offering a $10 million reward to help locate a trio of Iranian nationals who held the computer systems of a New Jersey town, a domestic violence shelter in Pennsylvania and hundreds of other victims across the U.S. and abroad hostage in a series of hack attacks. Using Microsoft’s BitLocker security tool, the hackers locked up and then stole secure files before sending ransom notes – some of which were spit out on the victims’ printers, the FBI said on Wednesday, Sept. 14. The unidentified shelter ended up paying $13,000 in bitcoin to retrieve its files, according to …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Manassas, VA
Real Estate
Amazon Buys Land In Northern Virginia For $87.8 Million Amazon Buys Land In Northern Virginia For $87.8 Million
Amazon Buys Land In Northern Virginia For $87.8 Million Google and Microsoft have a new neighbor in Prince William County. Reports said Amazon recently purchased nearly 60 acres of land to in Gainesville for nearly $90 million.  BizJournal announced earlier this week that Amazon Web Services had purchased the land at 5845 Wellington Road for $87.8 million. The report said AWS purchased the same-sized lot next door for $52.4 million last year.  Amazon has not commented on its plans for that location, but it adds to the company's holdings in northern Virginia.  The land is in the county's Data Center Opportunity Overlay District. T…

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by Josh Lanier
Fairfax, VA
Police & Fire
McLean Man Sentenced To 3 Years In $1.6M In Fraud Scheme: Feds McLean Man Sentenced To 3 Years In $1.6M In Fraud Scheme: Feds
McLean Man Sentenced To 3 Years In $1.6M In Fraud Scheme: Feds A 33-year-old McLean man was sentenced to three years in prison earlier this month for his role in a five-year scam that bilked more than 1,300 people — mostly elderly — out of $1.6 million, the Department of Justice said.  A court ruled that Bruhaspaty Prasad, 33, worked with scam artists based at a call center in India to steal money from unsuspecting victims, a U.S. Attorney said in a news release.  Their alleged grift is one that anyone online has likely come across in recent years.  In the scam, victims would get an unsolicited phone call or a pop-up window on a website…

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by Josh Lanier
Rivertowns, NY
Police & Fire
Alert Issued For Android Glitch That Could Block 9-1-1 Calls From Going Through Alert Issued For Android Glitch That Could Block 9-1-1 Calls From Going Through
Alert Issued For Android Glitch That Could Block 9-1-1 Calls From Going Through An urgent alert has been issued regarding Android phones that could cause devices to “freeze” when making an emergency call. The glitch apparently causes Android phones to lock up when attempting to make a 9-1-1 call as the device attempts to share location with emergency service officials, rather than connecting with police or other agency. According to officials,  “unintended interaction” between Microsoft Teams and the Android operating system renders cell phones unable to place outgoing calls to 911. Any Android user who has Microsoft Teams installed on their …

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
Lifestyle
$2 Million Wedding Set For Bill Gates' Daughter In Northern Westchester $2 Million Wedding Set For Bill Gates' Daughter In Northern Westchester
$2 Million Wedding Set For Bill Gates' Daughter In Northern Westchester The red carpet is being rolled out in Northern Westchester as billionaire Bill Gates has arrived in the region for a star-studded event as his daughter gets married as part of a multi-million dollar affair. The 65-year-old Microsoft founder and his entourage made their way to New York City on Thursday, Oct. 14 in advance of a planned $2 million wedding for Jennifer Gates at the family’s 124-acre $16 million horse farm in North Salem Gates bought his daughter following her graduation from Stanford University. Jennifer Gates, age 25, is set to marry professional equestrian Nayel Nassar during…

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by Zak Failla
Darien, CT
Lifestyle
Tech Industry Eyes Next Big Thing Amid Drop In Smartphone Sales Tech Industry Eyes Next Big Thing Amid Drop In Smartphone Sales
Tech Industry Eyes Next Big Thing Amid Drop In Smartphone Sales Now that more than 80 percent of American adults own smartphones, tech industries are developing the next big thing. Prompted by a drop in smartphone sales over the past two years, many technology companies - including Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon - to get back to research and development, CNBC reported. So what will the next big thing be, according to tech companies? Augmented reality or AR is otherwise known as mixed reality. Here is a still from a video by Apple showing how its new AR (augmented reality) platform will display on a smartphone.Apple This isn’t the…

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by Kristin Palpini
Kingston, NY
News
Police Issue Warning For 'Virus Alert' Scam For Those Online Police Issue Warning For 'Virus Alert' Scam For Those Online
Police Issue Warning For 'Virus Alert' Scam For Those Online While all eyes are on COVID-19, a different type of “virus scam” has been making the rounds. Law enforcement officials issued a warning of a new scam involving hackers who attempt to dupe people on the Internet who are browsing the web. According to police, those who have been victimized unexpectedly got a “virus alert” on their desktop designed to look as if it came from Microsoft that took over the entire browser page. The victim then called “Microsoft” at the 800-641-7676 number provided on the browser window, at which point the scammer said that the user probably had a virus and would …

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by Zak Failla
Brookfield, CT
Obituaries
Tech Entrepreneur Tony Hsieh, 46, Dies From Injuries In CT House Fire Tech Entrepreneur Tony Hsieh, 46, Dies From Injuries In CT House Fire
Tech Entrepreneur Tony Hsieh, 46, Dies From Injuries In CT House Fire Tony Hsieh, the retired CEO of online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos, died at age 46 from injuries sustained in a fire at a Connecticut home. The blaze broke out on Wednesday, Nov. 18 in New London,  and Hsieh died from his injuries on Friday, Nov. 27 at Bridgeport Hospital with his family by his side, according to KLAS 8 News Now in Las Vegas, where Zappos' headquarters is located. Hsieh retired as Zappos CEO in August 2020 after 21 years. Before joining Zappos, he sold LinkExchange, an Internet advertising network, to Microsoft in 1998 for $265 million. Hsieh, a Harvard graduate …

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by Joe Lombardi
Englewood, NJ
News
COVID Mask Clash: Tech Darling Charged With Bashing Englewood Officer In Face With Radio COVID Mask Clash: Tech Darling Charged With Bashing Englewood Officer In Face With Radio
COVID Mask Clash: Tech Darling Charged With Bashing Englewood Officer In Face With Radio A celebrated startup business advisor with an escalating history of violence smashed an Englewood police officer in the face with his own radio after causing a commotion at a local Starbucks when he refused to wear a COVID mask, authorities said. Frank Denbow, 35, eventually was subdued with help from a good Samaritan, police said. The attack, captured on video, came just weeks after authorities said Denbow kicked a police officer in Wyoming in the chest and sprayed him with a carbonated energy drink. An Englewood native, Denbow has been featured on various online business shows and tech …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Edison, NJ
News
Feds: NJ Firm Pays $345G For Short-Changing Foreign Nationals In Trump-Opposed Visa Program Feds: NJ Firm Pays $345G For Short-Changing Foreign Nationals In Trump-Opposed Visa Program
Feds: NJ Firm Pays $345G For Short-Changing Foreign Nationals In Trump-Opposed Visa Program A Middlesex County staffing firm has agreed to pony up $345,000 to settle federal allegations that it underpaid highly-skilled foreign nationals who were brought to the U.S. to work under a special visa program currently under fire from the Trump Administration. Edison-based Savantis Solutions didn’t admit or deny the Justice Department’s allegations, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said. Instead, it agreed to pay back wages and interest to current and former company employees who entered the United States on H-1B visas. Although federal authorities didn’t specify their nation…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Mahwah-Ramsey, NJ
News
Microsoft Closing Nearly All Remaining Stores In 'New Approach To Retail' Microsoft Closing Nearly All Remaining Stores In 'New Approach To Retail'
Microsoft Closing Nearly All Remaining Stores In 'New Approach To Retail' Nearly all of Microsoft’s remaining 82 retail stores will permanently close in what the company is calling a "strategic change in retail operations." The tech chain’s three remaining New Jersey stores in Bridgewater, Paramus and Freehold are still closed following COVID-19 shutdowns. Final decisions have not been made regarding whether or not these locations will ever reopen before their permanent closure, officials said. “Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any phys…

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by Valerie Musson
Hackensack, NJ
News
#PJPants4Ever: Twitter Says Employees Can Work From Home Permanently #PJPants4Ever: Twitter Says Employees Can Work From Home Permanently
#PJPants4Ever: Twitter Says Employees Can Work From Home Permanently Some Twitter employees won’t ever have to return to their offices, even after the coronavirus lockdown ends. Twitter employees who maintain servers or handle other jobs involving physical labor still must come in, CEO Jack Dorsey wrote in an email to his staff on Tuesday. Many others can simply continue to work remotely, Dorsey told them. Twitter is even boosting its employees’ allowance for work-from-home supplies to $1,000. “If our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen,” Twitter’s Je…

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by Jerry DeMarco