Episode #266: Edwin Kwan: WeChat and Kaspersky Apps Banned on Canadian Government Devices; Hillary Coover: Meta's Privacy Pivot: Upholding Principles or Extortion?; Mark Miller: Just in Time for Día de los Muertos: KandyKorn Malware; Marcel Brown: This Day in Tech History

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The stories we’re covering today.

Marcel Brown: November 5th, 2007. Google introduces the Android platform, it's mobile operating system for cell phones based on a modified version of the Linux operating system. The first Android-based phone would ship in September of 2008.

Edwin Kwan: The Canadian government has announced a ban on the use of WeChat and Kaspersky's apps on government-issued mobile devices. The Canadian government banned TikTok in February 2023 and is now adding Tencent's WeChat and Kaspersky to the list.

Mark Miller: Leave it to the North Korean nation state to release KandyKorn malware in time for the holiday season, starting with the Day of the Dead. On October 31st, Elastic Security Lab documented a malware infection that exposed an attempt by the DPRK to infect crypto exchange platforms through their blockchain engineers.

Hillary Coover: The debate over the cost of privacy in the face of corporate surveillance is intensifying, as Meta introduces a subscription model allowing users to opt out of behavioral advertising. While Meta argues it aligns with regulatory requirements, critics see it as extortion and an attempt to maintain the status quo, potentially leading to further legal battles. What would you pay for privacy?