Apps

TikTok security questioned as fake Coronavirus videos spread

Hackers could spread misinformation via WHO’s official account

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TikTok is one of the most widely used apps across the world today. Backed by Chinese giant Bytedance, the app poses serious competition to Facebook-owned Instagram. However, the platform has been mired in controversy over privacy issues and now a report alleges it’s compromised and can help spread misinformation about Coronavirus.

Developers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry have shared a post detailing how TikTok relies on an unsecured path to deliver content to your phone. In simpler terms, there’s a vulnerability in the way content is delivered to your phone from TikTok’s base server.

HTTP is a standard protocol that’s the backbone of modern internet for data transfer from the origin (TikTok server) to a source (your phone). But, it’s not secure. For ensured privacy, an encrypted protocol is used — HTTPS. The “s” stands for secure.

The developers said TikTok’s CDN (Content Delivery Network), a complex practice that ensures data gets delivered to you faster, relies on HTTP and not HTTPS. It’s like a middleman between the base server and your phone. The problem is, data from the CDN isn’t secure when it gets delivered to you.

Hence, man-in-the-middle attacks are possible. Any hacker can exploit this insecure path and push content they want you to see. To demonstrate an example, the developers injected fake Coronavirus videos into the World Health Organization’s TikTok account, making it look like official communication. The same trick also worked for the Red Cross account.

The developers often called White hat hackers had no intention of causing harm and alerted the platform about its weakness. They said, “we directed the app to our fake server. Because it impersonates TikTok servers, the app cannot tell that it is communicating with a fake server. Thus, it will blindly consume any content downloaded from it.”

The same trick did not work on apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Simply because they rely on HTTPS protocol for data transfer.

Apps

Honor, Xiaomi are working on their own Privacy Displays

Samsung’s Privacy Display is apparently very popular.

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Normally, a smartphone brand’s blatant copying of another brand’s feature is not a good practice. Today, however, there is a new feature that we wish other brands would copy: Samsung’s Privacy Display. Thankfully, some brands, like Honor, have finally gotten the message and are working on version of the feature.

As reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Honor is reportedly working on a privacy screen for its smartphones. Likewise, Xiaomi is working on the same thing, potentially launching the feature for the Xiaomi 18 Pro.

For the uninitiated, the Samsung Privacy Display is a built-in feature that blocks visibility of the screen at certain angles. If you’re not looking at the screen from the front, all you’ll see is a black void. It’s a built-in version of those protective screens that you can buy separately. Besides adding a nice layer of protection against scratches, it’s also meant to prevent snooping from your shoulder.

Samsung’s take was widely acclaimed for being insanely useful. When it arrives, this feature will be a godsend to more brands. Even better, users will no longer need to rely on third-party screen just to enjoy the privacy.

That said, there’s still no indication as to when these features will arrive on either Honor or Xiaomi.

SEE ALSO: LE SSERAFIM Chaewon flexes Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display

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Apps

Meta is reportedly experimenting on a gambling app

Users can spend virtual points on Arena.

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Meta does not have the most stellar of reputations. Despite offering the world’s most popular social media platforms, the company, through its various experiments throughout the years, continuously proves that it has other priorities than just providing the best for its users. Today, another reported experiment wants to take Meta to a new market that its users might fall into: the prediction market.

If you haven’t heard of the prediction market, consider yourself lucky. These apps, such as Kalshi, are basically just gambling platforms without the glitz of playing cards or the rigor of the stock market. Users gamble on mundane circumstances like the weather and more serious ones like war.

Today, as reported by The New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly asking Meta to develop a prediction app of its own. Interestingly, the experimental app, supposedly called Arena, will use virtual points, rather than real money. However, Meta has not ruled out real money — and hence, real gambling — in the future.

Meta is entering the industry at an extremely volatile time. The world is starting to crack down on prediction markets. Some users, for example, have been accused of using insider information to get easy wins on these platforms. Some markets have also accused these platforms of subverting anti-gambling laws.

SEE ALSO: Meta adds subscriptions for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

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foodpanda relaunches cult-favorite roast chicken brand after 8 years of persistent search queries

Heritage chain Andok’s returns to the platform, driven entirely by long-term user analytics.

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In the world of e-commerce and food delivery, platform algorithms usually dictate what consumers see. But occasionally, consumer behavior is so relentless that it shapes the platform’s strategy.

In a move driven entirely by long-term user analytics, foodpanda has officially relaunched Andok’s, one of the Philippines’ most iconic heritage rotisserie chains, back onto its platform after an eight-year absence.

The search bar as a digital wishlist

The decision to ink the partnership wasn’t just a marketing play. It was a response to an ongoing data anomaly. Despite being offline from the foodpanda platform for eight years, Andok’s consistently ranked as one of the most-searched merchants on the app.

Year after year, users treated the empty search results page as an unofficial wishlist. This persistent search intent gave foodpanda a clear, data-backed signal of pent-up demand.

Prior to the official digital rollout, teaser campaigns on social media validated this demand, generating thousands of organic interactions from users anticipating the return.

Bridging heritage flavor with digital infrastructure

For foodpanda, onboarding a merchant with this level of built-in demand fits its broader strategy of marketplace optimization and hyper-local network expansion, turning a heritage brand into another data point for how legacy retail plugs into delivery infrastructure.

For Andok’s, the integration works as a fast track to digital scale. A legacy quick-service chain skips years of independent app development and reaches customers already using foodpanda’s existing logistics network, on a platform they already check daily.

Andok’s built its following on charcoal spit-roasted chicken, a slow-cooked technique that’s stayed largely unchanged since the brand’s early days, alongside seasoned grilled pork belly.

More recently, the Dokito line extended that following into crispy fried chicken and chicken burgers, broadening the brand’s appeal beyond its original rotisserie format and giving foodpanda a menu with both heritage pull and everyday fast-food convenience.

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