Month: January 2018

Real-world intercontinental quantum communications enabled by the Micius satellite

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A joint China-Austria team has performed quantum key distribution between the quantum-science satellite Micius and multiple ground stations located in Xinglong (near Beijing), Nanshan (near Urumqi), and Graz (near Vienna). Such experiments demonstrate the secure satellite-to-ground exchange of cryptographic keys during the passage of the satellite Micius over a ground station. Using Micius as a Read more about Real-world intercontinental quantum communications enabled by the Micius satellite[…]

Information engine operates with nearly perfect efficiency

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Physicists have experimentally demonstrated an information engine—a device that converts information into work—with an efficiency that exceeds the conventional second law of thermodynamics. Instead, the engine’s efficiency is bounded by a recently proposed generalized second law of thermodynamics, and it is the first information engine to approach this new bound. The results demonstrate both the Read more about Information engine operates with nearly perfect efficiency[…]

You could soon be manufacturing your own drugs—thanks to 3D printing

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Forget those long lines at the pharmacy: Someday soon, you might be making your own medicines at home. That’s because researchers have tailored a 3D printer to synthesize pharmaceuticals and other chemicals from simple, widely available starting compounds fed into a series of water bottle–size reactors. The work, they say, could digitize chemistry, allowing users Read more about You could soon be manufacturing your own drugs—thanks to 3D printing[…]

Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Intelligence makes for better leaders—from undergraduates to executives to presidents—according to multiple studies. It certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or legislative logjam requires cognitive oomph. But new research on leadership suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping and starts hurting. […] The researchers looked at 379 male Read more about Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders[…]

Someone is touting a mobile, PC spyware platform called Dark Caracal to governments

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Dark Caracal [PDF] appears to be controlled from the Lebanon General Directorate of General Security in Beirut – an intelligence agency – and has slurped hundreds of gigabytes of information from devices. It shares its backend infrastructure with another state-sponsored surveillance campaign, Operation Manul, which the EFF claims was operated by the Kazakhstan government last Read more about Someone is touting a mobile, PC spyware platform called Dark Caracal to governments[…]

New AI System Predicts How Long Patients Will Live With Startling Accuracy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

By using an artificially intelligent algorithm to predict patient mortality, a research team from Stanford University is hoping to improve the timing of end-of-life care for critically ill patients. After parsing through 2 million records, the researchers identified 200,000 patients suitable for the project. The researchers were “agnostic” to disease type, disease stage, severity of Read more about New AI System Predicts How Long Patients Will Live With Startling Accuracy[…]

The Man from Earth Sequel ‘Pirated’ on The Pirate Bay – By Its Creators

Posted on by Robin Edgar

More than a decade ago, Hollywood was struggling to get to grips with the file-sharing phenomenon. Sharing via BitTorrent was painted as a disease that could kill the movie industry, if it was allowed to take hold. Tough action was the only way to defeat it, the suits concluded. In 2007, however, a most unusual Read more about The Man from Earth Sequel ‘Pirated’ on The Pirate Bay – By Its Creators[…]

Crypto-cash exchange BitConnect pulls plug amid Bitcoin bloodbath

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Amid a cryptocurrency price correction that has seen the price of Bitcoin drop by half from its mid-December peak, UK-based cyber-cash lending and exchange biz BitConnect said it is shutting down. The firm, dogged by accusations that it is a Ponzi scheme, cited bad press, regulatory orders, and cyber attacks for its market exit this Read more about Crypto-cash exchange BitConnect pulls plug amid Bitcoin bloodbath[…]

Computer program that tries to determine if you reoffend is racist, wrong and been in use since 2000.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

One widely used criminal risk assessment tool, Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS; Northpointe, which rebranded itself to “equivant” in January 2017), has been used to assess more than 1 million offenders since it was developed in 1998. The recidivism prediction component of COMPAS—the recidivism risk scale—has been in use since 2000. This Read more about Computer program that tries to determine if you reoffend is racist, wrong and been in use since 2000.[…]

Lenovo inherited a switch authentication bypass

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Lenovo has patched an ancient vulnerability in switches that it acquired along with IBM’s hardware businesses and which Big Blue itself acquired when it slurped parts of Nortel. The bug, which Lenovo refers to as “HP backdoor”, for reasons it has not explained, has been in present in ENOS (Enterprise network operating system) since at Read more about Lenovo inherited a switch authentication bypass[…]

Asus Bezel-Free Kit uses illusion to hide bezels in multimonitor setups

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The concept is simple. Thin lenses are placed along the seams where screens meet; they contain optical micro-structures that refract light, bending it inward to hide the bezels underneath. […] The kit’s optical obfuscation is designed to work at a specific angle. We selected 130° because it offered the best balance of comfort and immersion Read more about Asus Bezel-Free Kit uses illusion to hide bezels in multimonitor setups[…]

OnePlus suspends credit card transactions after fraud

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Over the weekend, members of the OnePlus community reported cases of unknown credit card transactions occurring on their credit cards post purchase from oneplus.net. We immediately began to investigate as a matter of urgency, and will keep you updated. […] As a precaution, we are temporarily disabling credit card payments at oneplus.net. PayPal is still Read more about OnePlus suspends credit card transactions after fraud[…]

Skygofree: Serious offensive Android malware, since 2014

Posted on by Robin Edgar

At the beginning of October 2017, we discovered new Android spyware with several features previously unseen in the wild. In the course of further research, we found a number of related samples that point to a long-term development process. We believe the initial versions of this malware were created at least three years ago – Read more about Skygofree: Serious offensive Android malware, since 2014[…]

Hospital injects $60,000 into crims’ coffers to cure malware infection

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The crooks had infected the network of Hancock Health, in Indiana, with the Samsam software nasty, which scrambled files and demanded payment to recover the documents. The criminals broke in around 9.30pm on January 11 after finding a box with an exploitable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) server, and inject their ransomware into connected computers. Medical Read more about Hospital injects $60,000 into crims’ coffers to cure malware infection[…]

300 Dutch customers fell for fake popular website ring. Perps picked up and given a few months of prison time.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

BCC and MediaMarkt are large electronics stores in NL. Ziggo is a large internet ISP. By linking to fake pages through marktplaats.nl (the Dutch ebay / Craigslist equivalent) people were able to shop for products on the fake sites, which were never delivered. Using a chat interface, the crims tried to gain access to the Read more about 300 Dutch customers fell for fake popular website ring. Perps picked up and given a few months of prison time.[…]

Microsoft wants to patent mind control – show how stupid the patent system really is

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft has applied to patent a brain control interface, so you’ll be able to “think” your way around a computer device, hands free.Last year, Facebook claimed to have 60 engineers engaged in BCI [brain computer interface] but Microsoft isn’t going to take this sitting down. It’s erm, sitting down and thinking really hard.The application Changing Read more about Microsoft wants to patent mind control – show how stupid the patent system really is[…]

All Intel laptops open to unlocking with ctrl-P and “admin”. Another fatal flaw in Intel Management Engine.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

F-Secure reports a security issue affecting most corporate laptops that allows an attacker with physical access to backdoor a device in less than 30 seconds. The issue allows the attacker to bypass the need to enter credentials, including BIOS and Bitlocker passwords and TPM pins, and to gain remote access for later exploitation. It exists Read more about All Intel laptops open to unlocking with ctrl-P and “admin”. Another fatal flaw in Intel Management Engine.[…]

Let’s Encrypt plugs hole that let miscreants grab HTTPS web certs for strangers’ domains

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Let’s Encrypt – a SSL/TLS certificate authority run by the non-profit Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) to programmatically provide websites with free certs for their HTTPS websites – on Thursday said it is discontinuing TLS-SNI validation because it’s insecure in the context of many shared hosting providers. TLS-SNI is one of three ways Let’s Encrypt’s Read more about Let’s Encrypt plugs hole that let miscreants grab HTTPS web certs for strangers’ domains[…]

Adult Themed Virtual Reality App spills Names, Emails of Thousands

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers at the firm Digital Interruption on Tuesday warned that an adult-themed virtual reality application, SinVR, exposes the names, email and other personal information via an insecure desktop application – a potentially embarrassing security lapse. The company decided to go public with the information after being frustrated in multiple efforts to responsibly disclose the vulnerability Read more about Adult Themed Virtual Reality App spills Names, Emails of Thousands[…]

Wait, what? The Linux Kernel Mailing List archives lived on ONE PC? One BROKEN PC?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Spare a thought for Jasper Spaans, who hosts the Linux Kernel Mailing List archive from a single PC that lives in his home. And since things always happen this way the home machine died while he was on holiday. The archive was therefore unavailable for much of the weekend, although Linux developers could still use Read more about Wait, what? The Linux Kernel Mailing List archives lived on ONE PC? One BROKEN PC?[…]

EMC, VMware security bugs throw gasoline on cloud security fire

Posted on by Robin Edgar

While everyone was screaming about Meltdown and Spectre, another urgent security fix was already in progress for many corporate data centers and cloud providers who use products from Dell’s EMC and VMware units. A trio of critical, newly reported vulnerabilities in EMC and VMware backup and recovery tools—EMC Avamar, EMC NetWorker, EMC Integrated Data Protection Read more about EMC, VMware security bugs throw gasoline on cloud security fire[…]

Okay, Google: why does Chromecast clobber Wi-Fi connections?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Wi-Fi router vendors have started issuing patches to defend their products against Google Chromecast devices.TP-Link and Linksys were first out of the blocks with firmware fixes, and TP-Link has posted this explanation of the issue. The bug is not in the routers, but in Google’s “Cast” feature, used in Chromecast, Google Home, and other devices. Read more about Okay, Google: why does Chromecast clobber Wi-Fi connections?[…]

BAE Magma aircraft controls aircraft orientation without moving parts but blown air

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Together with The University of Manchester, we have successfully completed the first phase of flight trials with MAGMA – a small scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which will use a unique blown-air system to manoeuvre the aircraft – paving the way for future stealthier aircraft designs. The new concept for aircraft control removes the conventional Read more about BAE Magma aircraft controls aircraft orientation without moving parts but blown air[…]

DARPA looking for Innovative Ideas for Swarm Drone Systems in Urban Environments

Posted on by Robin Edgar

DARPA’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program envisions future small-unit infantry forces using small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) and/or small unmanned ground systems (UGSs) in swarms of 250 robots or more to accomplish diverse missions in complex urban environments. By leveraging and combining emerging technologies in swarm autonomy and human-swarm teaming, the program seeks to enable Read more about DARPA looking for Innovative Ideas for Swarm Drone Systems in Urban Environments[…]

When It Comes to Gorillas, Google Photos Remains Blind – it’s hard to take an AI to account

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a third test attempting to assess Google Photos’ view of people, WIRED also uploaded a collection of more than 10,000 images used in facial-recognition research. The search term “African american” turned up only an image of grazing antelope. Typing “black man,” “black woman,” or “black person,” caused Google’s system to return black-and-white images of Read more about When It Comes to Gorillas, Google Photos Remains Blind – it’s hard to take an AI to account[…]