Caps Sign G Darcy Kuemper To 5-year 26.5M Pact

"I didn't play with the confidence I usually have. It was good learning experience, and I feel coming out of it I probably played (some) of my best hockey here at the end. So, I'm really exciting bring that into next year, for sure."

Kuemper, 32, was 37-12-4 with five shutouts, a .921 save percentage and a 2.54 goals-against average in 57 starts during the 2021-22 regular season. In the playoffs, he was 10-4 with a .902 save percentage and 2.57 GAA.

Last year, Apple took it a step further, asking if people wanted to stop companies from tracking them across websites and apps, #ElitePassSeason17Leaked a feature Apple calls App Tracking Transparency. Research surveys suggest nearly all people answer that they don't want to be tracked, a move that Facebook owner Meta said has meaningfully hurt its finances, costing as much as $10 billion in lost sales this year. "It's a substantial headwind to work our way through," Meta CFO David Wehner said in February.

Why it matters
The move is Apple acknowledging, in a way, that the threat is serious and growing. Pegasus was used by repressive governments to spy on human rights activists, lawyers, politicians and journalists.

That's why many cybersecurity experts took notice of Apple's Lockdown Mode when it was unveiled last Wednesday. The feature is designed to activate "extreme" protections for the company's iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. Among them, Apple's Lockdown Mode blocks link previews in the messages app, turns off potentially hackable web browsing technologies, and #FreeFireNewUpdate halts any incoming FaceTime calls from unknown numbers. Apple's devices also won't accept accessory connections unless the device is unlocked. (Here's how to use Apple's Lockdown mode on an iPhone.)

"It's going to cost a lot of money," Sigman said. Apple pledged a grant of at least $10 million to the Dignity and Justice Fund, which was established by the Ford Foundation, to help support human rights and fight social repression. Sigman said much more investment will be needed. "I hope Apple will get together with other high-tech companies and work together on this."

Meanwhile, many cybersecurity experts, including Susan Landau, are looking forward to trying out Lockdown Mode when Apple releases it in the fall, along with its annual set of major software upgrades. A cybersecurity and policy professor at Tufts University, and a former employee at Google and Sun Microsystems, Landau is already careful about what websites she visits and what devices she uses. She keeps a separate Google Chromebook for handling her finances, and she refuses to download most apps to her phone unless she knows she can trust the company that made them.

It was a departure from other internet giants, such as Facebook, whose co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg, was listening in the audience. Google, Facebook and Amazon largely make their money through targeted advertisements, which are often at odds with user privacy. After all, the more targeted the ad, more relevant and effective it likely is. 

"Make no mistake about it, Lockdown Mode will be a major blow," said Ron Deibert, a professor of political science and director of the Citizen Lab for cybersecurity researchers at the University of Toronto.

Apple itself said last week that it's tracked targeted hacking efforts toward people in nearly 150 countries over the past eight months. Apple has already begun a program of warning people when they may be targeted. When Lockdown Mode is released in the fall, cybersecurity experts say, #FreeFireStoreItemsTrick it'll represent an escalation on Apple's part, particularly because the feature will be available to anyone who wants to turn it on.

"Today, we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don't find acceptable," Federighi said during testimony defending Apple in a lawsuit with Fortnite maker Epic Games. Each week, Apple identifies a couple of pieces of malware on its own or with the help of third parties, he said back then, and it uses built-in systems to automatically remove malicious software from customers' computers. The nasty programs still proliferate, though. In the year ended last May, Federighi said, Apple had fought 130 types of Mac malware, #CanIgetEmotesInFreeFire and one program alone infected 300,000 systems. 

"Privacy means people know what they're signing up for, in plain English, and repeatedly," Jobs said. "Ask them. Ask them every time. Make them tell you to stop asking them if they get tired of your asking them. Let them know precisely what you're going to do."

Three years ago, Apple put up an ad in Las Vegas, showing the backside of one of its devices, with the phrase "What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone." It was a bold, if cheeky, claim. But Apple is increasingly living up to it.

Future security Lockdown Mode may be one of Apple's most significant security moves to date, but the company still has more it needs to do. Craig Federighi, Apple SVP and head of software, testified to a courtroom last year that his company's Mac computers face a "significantly larger malware problem" than its iPhones, iPads and other devices.