Image by Instalikeusa, from Pixabay
Instagram Lowers Video Quality for Less Popular Content
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- Instagram adjusts video quality based on a video’s popularity and engagement.
- The change was driven by Instagram’s need to manage increasing video uploads.
- Lower video quality may impact creators with smaller followings or slower-growing content.
Instagram is adjusting video quality based on popularity, as recently explained by the platform’s head, Adam Mosseri, and first reported by The Verge .
Under this approach, videos with high engagement and views are rendered in higher quality, while those with less engagement appear in lower resolution, potentially looking blurry compared to more popular videos. Mosseri clarified that this quality adjustment operates on a sliding scale, not a strict cutoff.
In a video on Threads , Mosseri explained that as a video gains more views and engagement, it receives higher-quality rendering. If a video initially rendered in lower quality experiences a spike in popularity later, Instagram will upgrade it to a better resolution.
Mosseri added that users with slower internet connections may also experience lower video quality.
The Verge highlighted that this practice aligns with similar approaches across Meta’s platforms. In a blog post , Meta stated that new uploads receive quick, basic encoding to conserve resources.
This shift stems from a 2021 company projection that predicted Instagram wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rapidly growing volume of video uploads without changes to resource management, as noted by The Verge.
If a video gains substantial watch time, it’s upgraded to better quality, with Meta’s most advanced processing applied only to the most popular videos. This setup ensures that the highest-quality videos are typically those with the most views.
However, TechCrunch reported user concerns that this policy might disadvantage smaller creators or those with content that takes time to find an audience. Lower-quality videos may lack visual appeal, potentially limiting their reach and growth.
In response, Mosseri suggested that viewers generally prioritize content over video quality, implying creators may not notice a significant impact on their performance.
Image by pikisuperstar, from Freepik
Massive Data Breach Impacts 100 Million In U.S. Healthcare System
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- Over 100 million Americans had data stolen in Change Healthcare cyberattack.
- The breach affected hospitals, pharmacies, and medical practices across the U.S.
- Stolen data includes health records, insurance details, and Social Security numbers.
In a major data breach, UnitedHealth has confirmed that personal and healthcare information for more than 100 million people was stolen in a February ransomware attack targeting Change Healthcare. This incident is now regarded as one of the most extensive healthcare data breaches in recent years, according to BleepingComputer (BC).
Change Healthcare, a major processor of insurance and billing data across the U.S., handles healthcare information for about a third of Americans. The breach exposed sensitive data across thousands of hospitals, pharmacies, and medical practices, highlighting vulnerabilities in the U.S. healthcare data infrastructure, as noted by TechCrunch (TC).
BC reports that, in the months following the June breach, Change Healthcare has disclosed that the stolen data includes a broad range of sensitive information.
Health insurance details, medical records, payment and billing information, and personal identifiers such as Social Security and driver’s license numbers were among the compromised data. However, not every affected person’s medical history was exposed, as noted by BC.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Change Healthcare anticipates significant operational disruptions from the breach, projecting a $705 million financial impact due to payment delays and service outages. UnitedHealth responded by issuing billions of dollars in loans to healthcare providers and covering notification costs for affected customers.
TC reports that the attack, attributed to the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group, first surfaced in February when Change Healthcare shut down much of its network to contain the breach, causing immediate service interruptions across the healthcare sector.
Following the attack, ALPHV/BlackCat disappeared with a reported $22 million ransom paid by UnitedHealth. After internal disputes, contractors involved in the hack formed a new group, attempting a second extortion and leaking some of the stolen data online as proof of their demands, as reported by TC.
Change Healthcare’s access to a copy of the stolen data enabled the company to identify and alert affected individuals, said TC. Although no evidence suggests the data was fully deleted, other ransomware groups, such as LockBit, have shown a tendency to retain stolen data even after victims comply with ransom demands, noted TC.
