The Evolution of Trust
an interactive guide to the game theory of why & how we trust each other Source: The Evolution of Trust Very clear and well illustrated
Month: January 2018
When a North Korean Missile Accidentally Hit a North Korean City
What happens when a North Korean ballistic missile test fails in flight and explodes in a populated area? On April 28, 2017, North Korea launched a single Hwasong-12/KN17 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) from Pukchang Airfield in South Pyongan Province (the Korean People’s Army’s Air and Anti-Air Force Unit 447 in Ryongak-dong, Sunchon City, to be Read more about When a North Korean Missile Accidentally Hit a North Korean City[…]
Rare Malware Targeting Uber’s Android App Uncovered
Malware discovered by Symantec researchers sneakily spoofs Uber’s Android app and harvests users’ passwords, allowing attackers to take over the effected users’ accounts. The malware isn’t widespread, though, and most Uber users are not effected. […] In order to steal a user’s login information, the malware pops up on-screen regularly and prompts the user to Read more about Rare Malware Targeting Uber’s Android App Uncovered[…]
Asus is turning its old routers into mesh Wi-Fi networks
Mesh routers like Eero, Netgear’s Orbi, and Google Wifi are getting all the hype these days, but replacing your whole network with a bunch of new devices can be kind of expensive. Asus has a good solution with its new AiMesh system, which lets you repurpose your existing Asus routers as part of a mesh Read more about Asus is turning its old routers into mesh Wi-Fi networks[…]
Google’s voice-generating AI is now indistinguishable from humans
A research paper published by Google this month—which has not been peer reviewed—details a text-to-speech system called Tacotron 2, which claims near-human accuracy at imitating audio of a person speaking from text. The system is Google’s second official generation of the technology, which consists of two deep neural networks. The first network translates the text Read more about Google’s voice-generating AI is now indistinguishable from humans[…]
Project Maven brings AI to the fight against ISIS
For years, the Defense Department’s most senior leadership has lamented the fact that US military and spy agencies, where artificial intelligence (AI) technology is concerned, lag far behind state-of-the-art commercial technology. Though US companies and universities lead the world in advanced AI research and commercialization, the US military still performs many activities in a style Read more about Project Maven brings AI to the fight against ISIS[…]
Gamers Want DMCA Exemption for ‘Abandoned’ Online Games
Several organizations and gaming fans are asking the Copyright Office to make a DMCA circumvention exemption for abandoned online games, to preserve them for future generations. The exemption would allow museums and libraries to offer copies of abandoned online servers, so these games won’t turn to dust. The U.S. Copyright Office is considering whether or Read more about Gamers Want DMCA Exemption for ‘Abandoned’ Online Games[…]
Edward Snowden’s New App Uses Your Smartphone to Physically Guard Your Laptop
My disk is encrypted, but all it takes to bypass this protection is for an attacker — a malicious hotel housekeeper, or “evil maid,” for example — to spend a few minutes physically tampering with it without my knowledge. If I come back and continue to use my compromised computer, the attacker could gain access Read more about Edward Snowden’s New App Uses Your Smartphone to Physically Guard Your Laptop[…]
Another view: bitcoin isn’t likely to consume all the world’s electricity in 2020 (anyone reminded of climate change discussions?)
The computer process that generates each coin is said to be on pace to require more electricity than the United States consumes in a year. This bitcoin “mining” allegedly consumes more power than most countries use each year, and its electricity usage is roughly equivalent to Bulgaria’s consumption. But here’s another thing you might want Read more about Another view: bitcoin isn’t likely to consume all the world’s electricity in 2020 (anyone reminded of climate change discussions?)[…]
Acoustic Attacks on HDDs cause them to shut down
The basic principle behind this attack is that sound waves introduce mechanical vibrations into an HDD’s data-storage platters. If the sound is played at a specific frequency, it creates a resonance effect that amplifies the vibration effect.Because hard drives store vasts amounts of information inside small areas of each platter, they are programmed to stop Read more about Acoustic Attacks on HDDs cause them to shut down[…]
These experts figured out why so many bogus US patents get approved
If you’ve read our coverage of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s “Stupid Patent of the Month” series, you know America has a patent quality problem. People apply for patents on ideas that are obvious, vague, or were invented years earlier. Too often, applications get approved and low-quality patents fall into the hands of patent trolls, creating Read more about These experts figured out why so many bogus US patents get approved[…]
Chrome Extension with 100,000 Users Caught Pushing Cryptocurrency Miner
A Chrome extension with over 105,000 users has been deploying an in-browser cryptocurrency miner to unsuspecting users for the past few weeks.The extension does not ask for user permission before hijacking their CPUs to mine Monero all the time the Chrome browser is open.Named “Archive Poster,” the extension is advertised as a mod for Tumblr Read more about Chrome Extension with 100,000 Users Caught Pushing Cryptocurrency Miner[…]
How to Stop Apps From Listening in on Your TV Habits (it turns out thousands are)
That innocent-looking mobile game you just downloaded might just have an ulterior motive. Behind the scenes, hundreds of different apps could be using your smartphone’s microphone to figure out what you watch on TV, a new report from The New York Times reveals. […] All of these apps need to get your permission before they Read more about How to Stop Apps From Listening in on Your TV Habits (it turns out thousands are)[…]
To drive faster we all need to keep the same distance to the car behind us as the car in front
a new study in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems mathematically models the implications of the larger problem: You’re not keeping the right distance from the car behind you. That may seem counterintuitive, since you don’t have much control over how far you are from the car behind you—especially when that person is a tailgater. Read more about To drive faster we all need to keep the same distance to the car behind us as the car in front[…]
Forever 21: Yes, hackers breached our payment system for half of 2017
A breach at Forever 21 left customer payment card information exposed to hackers, the retailer confirmed Thursday. The company didn’t specify how many customers had information stolen, but said various point of sales terminals were affected between April 3 and November 18, 2017. Hackers collected credit card numbers, expiration dates, verification codes and sometimes cardholder Read more about Forever 21: Yes, hackers breached our payment system for half of 2017[…]
Hackers Can Rickroll Thousands of Sonos and Bose Speakers Over the Internet
Perhaps you’ve been hearing strange sounds in your home—ghostly creaks and moans, random Rick Astley tunes, Alexa commands issued in someone else’s voice. If so, you haven’t necessarily lost your mind. Instead, if you own one of a few models of internet-connected speaker and you’ve been careless with your network settings, you might be one Read more about Hackers Can Rickroll Thousands of Sonos and Bose Speakers Over the Internet[…]
The evidence-based medicine problem: US doctors cling to procedures that don’t work. Just under half of expensive operations.
The recent news that stents inserted in patients with heart disease to keep arteries open work no better than a placebo ought to be shocking. Each year, hundreds of thousands of American patients receive stents for the relief of chest pain, and the cost of the procedure ranges from $11,000 to $41,000 in US hospitals. Read more about The evidence-based medicine problem: US doctors cling to procedures that don’t work. Just under half of expensive operations.[…]
Web trackers exploit browser login managers
First, a user fills out a login form on the page and asks the browser to save the login. The tracking script is not present on the login page [1]. Then, the user visits another page on the same website which includes the third-party tracking script. The tracking script inserts an invisible login form, which Read more about Web trackers exploit browser login managers[…]
Canada to use AI to Study ‘Suicide-Related Behavior’ on Social Media
his month the Canadian government is launching a pilot program to research and predict suicide rates in the country using artificial intelligence. The pilot will mine Canadians’ social media posts “in order to identify patterns associated with users who discuss suicide-related behavior,” according to a recently published contract document. Source: Canada Is Using AI to Read more about Canada to use AI to Study ‘Suicide-Related Behavior’ on Social Media[…]
‘Kernel memory leaking’ Intel / ARM processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows, OSX redesign, massive slowdowns to be expected
t is understood the bug is present in modern Intel processors produced in the past decade. It allows normal user programs – from database applications to JavaScript in web browsers – to discern to some extent the layout or contents of protected kernel memory areas.The fix is to separate the kernel’s memory completely from user Read more about ‘Kernel memory leaking’ Intel / ARM processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows, OSX redesign, massive slowdowns to be expected[…]
Using stickers in the field of view to fool image recognition AIs
In a research paper presented in December through a workshop at the 31st Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2017) and made available last week through ArXiv, a team of researchers from Google discuss a technique for creating an adversarial patch. This patch, sticker, or cutout consists of a psychedelic graphic which, when placed Read more about Using stickers in the field of view to fool image recognition AIs[…]
Nvidia: bans using cheap GeForce, Titan GPUs in servers through EULA. Is that legal?!
The chip-design giant updated its GeForce and Titan software licensing in the past few days, adding a new clause that reads: “No Datacenter Deployment. The SOFTWARE is not licensed for datacenter deployment, except that blockchain processing in a datacenter is permitted.” In other words, if you wanted to bung a bunch of GeForce GPUs into Read more about Nvidia: bans using cheap GeForce, Titan GPUs in servers through EULA. Is that legal?![…]