Month: December 2015

Cox Is Liable for Pirating Subscribers, Ordered to pay $25 million

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Internet provider Cox Communications is responsible for the copyright infringements of its subscribers, a Virginia federal jury has ruled. The ISP is guilty of willful contributory copyright infringement and must pay music publisher BMG $25 million in damages. cox-logoToday marks the end of a crucial case that will define how U.S. Internet providers deal with Read more about Cox Is Liable for Pirating Subscribers, Ordered to pay $25 million[…]

Ted Cruz campaign using firm that harvested data on millions of unwitting Facebook users

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is using psychological data based on research spanning tens of millions of Facebook users, harvested largely without their permission, to boost his surging White House run and gain an edge over Donald Trump and other Republican rivals, the Guardian can reveal. A little-known data company (Cambridge Analytica), now embedded within Cruz’s Read more about Ted Cruz campaign using firm that harvested data on millions of unwitting Facebook users[…]

MIT Creates messaging system which becomes unsniffable through chaffing data: Vuvuzela

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Vuvuzela relies on dummy traffic to hide the real connections Before it’s decided where to store its content, the message goes through different servers, which send out dummy traffic to all interconnected users. The server notifies the recipient that there’s a message for them, the user then goes to retrieve it, also passing through different Read more about MIT Creates messaging system which becomes unsniffable through chaffing data: Vuvuzela[…]

Latest Philips Hue update closes the system, makes it impossible to connect other ZigBee lights

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Haven’t they learned from Apple? Closing your system makes users run for more open products. Not a good idea, Philips, I’m not buying this anymore! De laatste firmware-update voor de Philips Hue bridge brengt een onaangekondigde wijziging. Slimme lampen van andere fabrikanten kunnen niet langer gekoppeld Source: Philips Hue wordt een gesloten systeem

UK citizens may soon need licenses to photograph some stuff they already own

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Copyright strikes again, with photographers and publishers hit particularly hard. Changes to UK copyright law will soon mean that you may need to take out a licence to photograph classic designer objects even if you own them. That’s the result of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, which extends the copyright of artistic objects Read more about UK citizens may soon need licenses to photograph some stuff they already own[…]

Kazakhstan may enact law to install false national security certificate on PCs – brouhaha

Posted on by Robin Edgar

There is a lot of this on the internet but I’m not sure it’s true as it’s all based on something that was posted on a telcos site and removed, so all the sources link to a google cache site. It’s not clear how this would be implemented and whether users would somehow be forced Read more about Kazakhstan may enact law to install false national security certificate on PCs – brouhaha[…]

Hundreds of thousands of engine immobilisers hackable over the net

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Kiwi hacker Lachlan Temple has found holes in a popular cheap car tracking and immobilisation gadget that can allow remote attackers to locate, eavesdrop, and in some cases cut the fuel intake to hundreds of thousands of vehicles, some while in motion. the flaws allow attackers who log into any account — including a universal Read more about Hundreds of thousands of engine immobilisers hackable over the net[…]

First ever EU rules on cybersecurity

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Transport and energy companies will have to ensure that the digital infrastructure that they use to deliver essential services, such as traffic control or electricity grid management, is robust enough to withstand cyber-attacks, under new rules provisionally agreed by internal market MEPs and the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers on Monday. […] Read more about First ever EU rules on cybersecurity[…]

AVG, McAfee, Kaspersky Fix Common Vulnerability in Their Antivirus Products

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The security bug relates to the fact that the AVG antivirus creates a memory space with full RWX (read-write-execute) privileges where it normally runs. For that particular version of the AVG antivirus, this memory space was not randomized and was often shared with other applications, like, for example, Acrobat Reader or the enSilo product that Read more about AVG, McAfee, Kaspersky Fix Common Vulnerability in Their Antivirus Products[…]

77000 Valve accounts get hacked per month

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We see around 77,000 accounts hijacked and pillaged each month. These are not new or naïve users; these are professional CS:GO players, reddit contributors, item traders, etc. Users can be targeted randomly as part of a larger group or even individually. Hackers can wait months for a payoff, all the while relentlessly attempting to gain Read more about 77000 Valve accounts get hacked per month[…]

Why people think total nonsense is really deep

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The precise reasons that people see profundity in vague buzzwords or syntactic but completely random sentences are unknown. Some people might not realize the reason they don’t understand something is simply because there is nothing to understand. Or they might just approach things they hear and read less skeptically. There are also a few characteristics Read more about Why people think total nonsense is really deep[…]

GCHQ can hack your systems at will – thanks to ‘soft touch’ oversight, judges not needed thanks

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Privacy International battle exposes ‘bulk’ warrants Documents released by GCHQ to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal suggest the agency may be allowed to hack multiple computers in the UK under single “thematic” or “class” warrants. Responding to complaints brought by Privacy International and seven global internet and communication service providers, the British spy agency told the Read more about GCHQ can hack your systems at will – thanks to ‘soft touch’ oversight, judges not needed thanks[…]

Physicists make transparent conductors by means of stamping and growing

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The researchers based the new process on a combination of two existing techniques. Using the stamping technique ‘Substrate Conformal Imprint Lithography’, which originates from a collaboration between Philips and AMOLF, they stamped a pattern in a thin layer of plastic on top of a glass substrate. The result looks much like a nanoscale landscape: a Read more about Physicists make transparent conductors by means of stamping and growing[…]

Epic failure of Phone House & Dutch telecom providers to protect personal data: How I could access 12+ million records #phonehousegate

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A litany of unsecured portals with generic usernames, sometimes no passwords at all, personnel allowing views of unencrypted Google docs with passwords… Source: Epic failure of Phone House & Dutch telecom providers to protect personal data: How I could access 12+ million records #phonehousegate | Weblog | Sijmen Ruwhof

Microsoft sets stage for massive Windows 10 upgrade strategy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft has been prepping Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs for a more aggressive Windows 10 upgrade strategy that the company will kick off shortly. Source: Microsoft sets stage for massive Windows 10 upgrade strategy As Windows 10 is a massive privacy invading advertising machine, quite a lot of people are not waiting for this Read more about Microsoft sets stage for massive Windows 10 upgrade strategy[…]

Hacker Leaks Customer Data After a United Arab Emirates Bank Fails to Pay Ransom

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A hacker is releasing customer records after a bank in the United Arab Emirates refused to pay a ransom of $3 million in bitcoins. Most of the bank’s customers, however, did not learn that their data had been stolen and published online until the newspaper contacted them. Files purporting to come from the hacker, and Read more about Hacker Leaks Customer Data After a United Arab Emirates Bank Fails to Pay Ransom[…]

Uruguay makes dramatic shift to nearly 95% electricity from clean energy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

now that renewables provide 94.5% of the country’s electricity, prices are lower than in the past relative to inflation. There are also fewer power cuts because a diverse energy mix means greater resilience to droughts.It was a very different story just 15 years ago. Back at the turn of the century oil accounted for 27% Read more about Uruguay makes dramatic shift to nearly 95% electricity from clean energy[…]