An anonymous reader writes: Whether you think cryptocurrency is a scam or a salvation, those digital coins can store real-world value. The safest place to keep them is in what's known as a "hardware wallet," a device like a USB drive that stores your currency and private keys locally, without connecting to the internet. But "safest" doesn't mean "perfect," which new research into two popular hardware wallets reinforces all too well. Researchers from Ledger -- a firm that makes hardware wallets itself -- have demonstrated attacks against products from manufacturers Coinkite and Shapeshift that could have allowed an attacker to figure out the PIN that protects those wallets. The vulnerabilities have been fixed, and both hacks would have required physical access to the devices, which minimizes the danger to begin with. But Ledger argues that it's still worth holding hardware wallets to the highest standards, just as you would a closet safe. Shapeshift's fix can be found here. Meanwhile, Coinkite's Coldcard Mk2 flaw has been fixed in the company's current Coldcard model Mk3, which started shipping in October.

A bipartisan group of senators are sounding the antitrust enforcement alarm Friday over Facebook's newly announced acquisition of Giphy, a GIF-making and sharing website. The Verge reports: On Friday, Facebook announced that it would acquire Giphy for the reported price of $400 million. Giphy is one of the largest GIF sites on the internet and social media and messaging services like Twitter, Tinder, Slack and iMessage already have Giphy integrated into their apps. In a Friday blog post, Facebook said that half of Giphy's traffic comes from Facebook apps and that the gif website would be rolled into Instagram, a Facebook-owned product. In that same post, Facebook suggested that Giphy's core function as a GIF-sharing app across social media would not change and that developers would "continue to have the same access" to its services.

Still, that pledge hasn't quieted the growing chorus of congresspeople concerned over potential anti-competitive behavior from Facebook. In statements Friday, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Democrats Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) were skeptical of the deal. "Facebook keeps looking for even more ways to take our data," Hawley said in a statement to The Verge. "Just like Google purchased DoubleClick because of its widespread presence on the internet and ability to collect data, Facebook wants Giphy so it can collect even more data on us. Facebook shouldn't be acquiring any companies while it is under antitrust investigation for its past purchases." Democrats are planning to introduce a bill called the "Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act" that would impose a moratorium on large mergers until the FTC "determines that small businesses, workers, and consumers" were "no longer under severe financial distress."

Ubisoft is suing Apple and Google over a Chinese mobile game it says is "a near carbon copy" of one of its most popular games, Rainbow Six: Siege. The BBC reports: Area F2 is "designed to closely replicate... virtually every aspect" of the game, it alleges, in a 43-page document, complete with screenshots. It is also suing the developer, Ejoy, owned by Chinese tech giant Alibaba. Characters, game modes, game maps, animations, and even the user interface were copied, the document alleges. "Virtually every aspect of AF2 is copied from R6S, from the operator selection screen to the final scoring screen and everything in between," Ubisoft claims. "In fact, the games are so similar that an ordinary observer viewing and playing both games likely would be unable to differentiate between them."

Ubisoft estimates Area F2 has been downloaded more than a million times and made "tens of thousands of dollars" on in-game purchases. It says it has raised the issue with both Apple and Google, which both take a cut of sales on their respective app stores. "But rather than take any measures to stop or curtail the infringement... Google and Apple instead decided that it would be more profitable to collect their revenue share from AF2 and continue their unlawful distribution," Ubisoft says in its court filing. Ubisoft is seeking a jury trial over the alleged copyright infringement, in the Central District Court of California.