Google has announced that paid apps in the Play Store can't be downloaded or updated in Russia anymore. This is apparently being done due to "compliance" efforts but free apps are exempt.
Ukraine RSS
The Russian government has made "gray" imports legal. This will allow the Russian citizens to import smartphones, TVs, computers, consoles and even cars and spare parts without the maker's consent.
Netflix has reported a decline in its total subscriber count for the first time since October 2011. The firm has attributed this to its exit from Russia and cancellations due to price hikes.
Microsoft has revealed its latest efforts to tackle cyber attacks by a hacking entity linked to Russia called Strontium. It took over several of the entity's domains to help keep users safe.
Epic Games managed to raise $144 million for Ukraine between March 21 and April 3. The money will be donated to a range of charities including UNICEF, UNHCR, Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen.
Russian developers will launch their Play Store alternative "NashStore" on May 9, Russia's Victory Day, after Google suspended all payment services in the country leaving developers with no income.
Apple has slashed iPhone SE production by 20% due to several factors that make the company believe it will sell fewer devices. Concerning Apple are inflation levels and the Russo-Ukrainian war.
ZALA Aero's deadly drone, which can autonomously identify and destroy its target, was spotted in Ukraine. It is possible that the target of the KUB-BLA was Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Following the week where Russian cosmonauts gave tacit support to Ukraine, we have just one rocket launch, a Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a that will be carrying Meridian-M satellites for the MoD.
_medium.jpg)
Mozilla has removed Yandex and Mail.ru as the default search engine options in its latest Firefox release. It's currently unclear if this is due to an anti-Russia stance or something else entirely.
Translation and language learning app downloads have spiked among Ukrainians as they flee the war and try to settle in other countries. Translation app downloads were up 71% month-over-month.
In its latest effort to help Ukrainian users, Microsoft announced free Skype calls to landline and mobile numbers in Ukraine. Also, Skype now supports more languages for translating to/from Ukrainian.
DuckDuckGo's CEO has announced that the search engine will now down-rank websites linked to Russian disinformation. The move comes two weeks after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
This week, SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 carrying more than 45 Starlink satellites into orbit to strengthen the Starlink internet network. OneWeb has also stopped launches from Baikonur.
Mastercard, PayPal and Visa are the latest in a long list of companies to suspend their operations in Russia. PayPal will no longer allow new sign ups while Visa and Mastercard will cease operations.
_medium.jpg)
This was an extremely busy week in the Microsoft-verse with news items spread across multiple domains including sanctions on Russia, a surprising loss for Defender, and a bunch of web enhancements.
Russia has banned access to Facebook, according to the digital regulator Roskomnadzor. It comes after Facebook restricted some Russian news pages in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Microsoft is suspending all "new" sales of its products in Russia. This includes Xbox, Windows, Microsoft 365, and Azure. The implication is that existing customers will remain supported.
In an effort to raise funds for the ongoing armed conflict, the Ukrainian government has indicated that it will 'offer' Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The govt. has canceled plans to issue airdrops.
CD Projekt Red, the studio behind Cyberpunk 2077, has announced that it will suspend all forms of sales of its games in Russia and Belarus. It joins a slew of companies suspending services in Russia.
STALKER 2 is being developed by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World. However, due to the Russian war, the title is being placed on the sidelines to focus on protecting the team on the ground.
Snapchat shows solidarity for Ukraine by halting all advertising in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It will continue delivering its Snapchat app in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia as a communications tool.
Apple has stopped selling its products in Russia over the aggression the country has shown to its neighbour, Ukraine. RT News and Sputnik News have also been removed from the App Store.
Google has announced a series of steps to stop the spread of disinformation by state-sponsored Russian media outlets on its platforms. Its services continue to remain available in Russia.
Microsoft has announced a series of steps that it is taking to aid Ukrainian authorities and civilians. It has also detailed how it is dismantling Russian state-sponsored propaganda on its platforms.
Ukraine's digital transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorov is calling for international volunteers to help wage cyber-war on Russia. The telegram channel has more than 180,000 members.
Cryptocurrencies are being used to facilitate the transfer of millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. The firm Elliptic said that over $16.7 million has been sent to the Ukrainian government and NGOs.
SpaceX has switched on Starlink in Ukraine and is sending receivers to the country to help ensure people can stay connected if broadband and mobile infrastructure are destroyed by the conflict.
YouTube has de-monetised several Russian YouTube channels, including RT, over their coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It's also limiting its recommendations to these channels' videos.
The Russian government has partially banned Facebook in the country and claimed that the social network has violated the fundamental human rights and freedom of citizens in the country.
Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin saw a sharp drop in their prices today following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The decline in prices anticipated European stock markets which are all down.
A paper released by the cybersecurity firm Dragos theorizes that the Russian hackers exploited a key safety component thereby endangering the lives of the people present on the transmission station.
Facebook has announced that it will roll out stringent ad rules in several more locations expecting elections this year. Indians will also have access to the previously announced ad archive.
Ukrainian security forces have alleged that Russia was behind the Petya attack which crippled systems in both of the Slavic countries.The SBU claims it has found a link between the attack and Russia.
Following the recent Petya ransomware attack, Microsoft has detailed the extent and functioning of the outbreak, recovery options for infected machines, and the multi-layered defense in Windows 10.
An infamous disk-wiping malware called KillDisk is now functioning as ransomware. It will demand a surprisingly steep amount of 222 bitcoins, or equal to almost $215,000 to unlock infected files.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike reported that Russian hackers used an Android malware variant to track and report on Ukrainian artillery movements, as well as Democratic emails during the US election.
Popular Russian news site RT.com has been hacked following the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with instances of "Russian" replaced with "Nazi" on all articles and headlines.
Five men have been charged in what's being called the largest fraud hacking case ever in the US, as they are accused of stealing 160 million credit and debit card numbers.
With the closure of Demonoid, there had been hopes that the site would return. These hopes seem to have been dashed by the discovery that you could buy the rights to the infamous domains.
Several images of an unknown Windows 11 app called "Designer" leak out
CISA: Don't install Windows Patch Tuesday updates for May on Domain Controllers
What is new in Windows 11 22H2, the first feature update for the newest OS
Microsoft is improving Shut Down and WinRE in Windows 11 with modern look and icons
Recommended by 
