CNN BUSINESS | Why it’s so difficult to bring ransomware attackers to justice

San Francisco (CNN Business) – An incident takes place. Law enforcement investigates. A culprit is identified, apprehended and prosecuted.

That’s typically how we think of addressing a crime. But as some ransomware victims may now be discovering, that process is much more complicated when the criminal is on another continent and the crime takes place virtually.

A spate of ransomware attacks in recent months has compromised critical infrastructure and disrupted daily life across the United States and globally, with one massive attack last week on software vendor Kaseya potentially impacting more than 1,000 companies around the world. Cyber researchers say the attack was carried out by REvil, a group with suspected ties to Russia that also hit meat processing company JBS Foods last month, Apple (AAPL) supplier Quanta Computer in April and electronics maker Acer in March.  —read more— 

CNN | Why Al Sharpton and Ben Crump are taking up the case of a White teen killed by police

(CNN) – The Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Crump are taking up their first case involving a White person who was killed after being shot during an encounter with a police officer.

The civil rights leader and the high-profile attorney, who Sharpton has dubbed “Black America’s Attorney general,” deemed the police shooting of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain “one of the most significant” cases in the fight to push Congress for landmark police reform legislation.

Attorneys Crump and Devon Jacob, along with Sharpton and representatives from the NAACP, were invited to attend Brittain’s memorial on Tuesday at Beebe High School in Beebe, Arkansas.

Brittain was fatally shot June 23 by a Lonoke County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop around 3 a.m. outside of a local auto repair shop along Arkansas Highway 89 south of Cabot, a Little Rock suburb, according to Arkansas State Police.  —read more— 

CNN style Fashion | Cannes Film Festival 2021: Lavish looks from the red carpet

Canceled last year for the first time since World War II, the Cannes Film Festival is underway once more. Staged in the French Riviera’s most beguiling resort town, the annual festival is an unmissable date on the film industry calendar, premiering movies that have gone on to enjoy stratospheric success, from “Pulp Fiction” to “Taxi Driver.”  —read more— 

CNN travel | The world’s most powerful passports for 2021

(CNN) — If there was an Olympics of passports, Japan wouldn’t just be hosting it — it’d be winning the whole competition.

The Henley Passport Index, which has been regularly monitoring the world’s most travel-friendly passports since 2006, has released its latest rankings and analysis.

As the index doesn’t take temporary restrictions into account, Japan is once again top of the leaderboard, with its passport offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 193 destinations around the world.

However, the Henley & Partners report says, in the first quarter of 2021 international mobility was still only 12% of its pre-pandemic levels, meaning “the gulf between theoretical and actual travel access offered by even high-ranking passports remains significant.”  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | A woman was looking to adopt a new pet. Then she found the dog she lost two years ago

(CNN) – A woman was scrolling through a list of adoptable dogs at her local humane society when she came across a photo that made her heart skip a beat.

There he was — her former pup and best friend, Kovu, who Aisha Nieves had devastatingly lost two years prior when she lived in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“He was my baby. He would go with me everywhere. He would sleep in my bed,” Nieves told CNN affiliate WFMZ. “Literally, the definition of a man’s best friend.”  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | United Airlines orders 270 jets, its biggest aircraft purchase ever

New York (CNN Business) – United Airlines on Tuesday announced orders to buy 270 jets, the largest aircraft purchase in the company’s history and the biggest order by any airline in about a decade.

The list price for the 270 jets totals about $35 billion. Airlines typically pay only a fraction of list prices — and because this is still not a good time for aircraft sales, United is paying far below half of the list price.

United is likely getting an especially significant discount, on the 200 Boeing (BA) 737 Max jets that makes up the bulk of the order. The rest of the order is for 70 Airbus (EADSF) A321neo aircraft.

The buy is another sign that airlines see a recovery from the pandemic on the horizon.  —read more— 

CNN HEROES SALUTES | A Reddit user granted ‘One Simple Wish’ and his story triggered a tidal wave of generosity

(CNN) – Last month, a member of the popular website Reddit responded to this question: “What is something you’ve done purely out of the goodness of your heart but have not told anyone?”

His answer inspired an online community to step up and donate sneakers, books, toys, and electronics to hundreds of children impacted by the foster care system.

This wave of generosity was so large, it crashed One Simple Wish‘s website. The organization, founded by 2013 CNN Hero Danielle Gletow, helps donors grant wishes posted on their site by foster kids, foster parents, and young adults who aged out of the system.  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | Microsoft issues urgent security warning: Update your PC immediately

Microsoft (MSFT) warned that hackers that exploit the vulnerability could install programs, view and delete data or even create new user accounts with full user rights. That gives hackers enough command and control of your PC to do some serious damage.

Windows 10 is not the only version affected — Windows 7, which Microsoft has ended support for last year, is also subject to the vulnerability.

Despite announcing that it would no longer issue updates for Windows 7, Microsoft issued a patch for its 12-year old operating system, underscoring the severity of the PrintNightmare flaw. Updates for Windows Server 2016, Windows 10, version 1607, and Windows Server 2012 will are “expected soon,” it said.  —read more— 

CNN BUSINESS | IBM CEO: The biggest challenge holding back our economy right now

We’re already beginning to see the contours of what our new post-pandemic digital economy will look like.

Whether it is cloud-based platforms or AI-powered software, businesses across every industry are reshaping their future around the possibilities of these powerful and exciting technologies. In manufacturing, a factory floor operator now relies on AI-powered robots to detect defects in products that are invisible to the human eye. In health care, AI-powered virtual agents can now handle millions of calls at once. And, in telecommunications, cloud-based networks can now quickly adapt to massive shifts in traffic patterns — almost overnight.  —read more—