Backdoor discovered in Gigabyte Motherboards. Gigabyte rolls out firmware fix.
If you own a Gigabyte motherboard, it’s very important to ensure it is up to date. Up to 271 motherboards were discovered to have a backdoor vulnerability. Fortunately, Gigabyte was swift in addressing and offering a solution for the error, which you can find on their official website.
The issue, which leaves a backdoor open for hackers and exploits, could affect motherboards from as far back as a few years ago, explaining Gigabyte’s urgent response.
From what we’ve been able to gather, Gigabyte has implanted stricter security controls during the boot process and will detect and prevent malicious activities throughout.
If you’re concerned about your motherboard or unsure what model you have, you may want to get in touch with your supplier and double check if you need the firmware update.
Summer Game fest
image credit: Eurogamer
Now comfortably in the place where E3 once stood, Geoff Keighley’s own Summer Game Fest launched this week with a keynote broadcast to both a live audience and also streamed across the world. Featuring heavy hitters such as Mortal Kombat 1, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and even a surprise announcement of Nicolas Cage being added to the iconic Dead by Daylight, gamers were left with their jaws on the floor at what we have to look forward to. And the best bit is? This was only day one! We have an entire weekend of events and announcements to look forward to, including the PC gaming show and the Future of Gaming show over the next few days. With so much to look forward to, there’s definitely something for everyone.
What else is there to look forward to?
We’ve organised a complete timetable, so don’t miss any updates.
- Access-Ability Summer Showcase - Friday 9th June
- Tribeca Games Spotlight - Friday 9th June
- Wholesome Direct 2023 - Saturday 10th June
- Future Games Show Summer Showcase - Saturday 10th June
- Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct - Sunday 11th June
- PC Gaming Show - Sunday 11th June
- Ubisoft Forward - Monday 12th June
- Capcom Showcase - Monday 12th June
- Grasshopper Direct - Wednesday 14th June
- Annapurna Interactive Showcase - Thursday 29th June
Twitch scraps newly introduced advertising rules scrapped after backlash
Twitch has faced backlash from its users and has performed a U-turn on recent announcements, saying to its users that they will be restricting the size and types of ads used by streamers who create content on the platform.
This controversial new update would have substantially reduced the ways in which streamers generate income on the platform. Now, after severe backlash, Twitch have abandoned these plans after a threat to mass boycott and move to another service by several creators. Twitch proposed that streamers would not be allowed to embed ads directly into their streams and limit the size of any logos to just 3% of the screen size.
In a tweet released by Twitch’s official account, they called the proposed guidelines: “bad for you and bad for Twitch” in an attempt to mitigate the boycott. It is unclear at the time of writing whether all the new proposals have been rescinded.
Some creators, especially those that do charity events, were concerned that the new rules that limit embedded ads. Creators such as Games Done Quick rely on logos for their fundraising on their screen, and the new or revised restrictions may impact their format. Many streamers will embed their ads permanently on screens, and the new rules would have deemed this against their terms of service.
Some streamers have elected to leave the platform permanently, seeing it as the final straw and a good reason to move onto new pastures. Time will tell whether Twitch’s revised policies will have any effect on the content creators that use their site.
Mass hack by cybercriminals propose ultimatum to victims.
Huge companies Boots, British Airways and the BBC have had the personal details of around 100,000 staff members stolen and held to ransom in a huge cyber attack by Russian-speaking gang Clop.
Details such as names, addresses, bank details and national insurance numbers are feared to have been stolen after Clop demanded on their darkweb site for the affected companies to email them or face data of their employees being posted online. No money amount has been revealed, but has demanded that affected companies should contact Clop in order for negotiations to be opened.
This type of threat is known as “doxware”, where instead of merely encrypting data and asking a ransom for it to be unlocked (known as ransomware), this steals the data directly with the threat of uploading some or all of the sensitive information. Doxware is harder to enact, but can negate businesses simply restoring their data from backups and ignoring any demands.
As of writing, the situation remains unsolved.
And that wraps up our tech news for this week! If you need any advice about the firmware update to the Gigabyte motherboards or are concerned about any aspects of your cybersecurity, don't hesitate to get in touch with one of our experts.
