UK Watchdog Calls for Face Recognition Ban Over 90 Percent False-Positive Rate

As face recognition in public places becomes more commonplace, Big Brother Watch is especially concerned with false identification. In May, South Wales Police revealed that its face-recognition software had erroneously flagged thousands of attendees of a soccer game as a match for criminals; 92 percent of the matches were wrong. In a statement to the Read more about UK Watchdog Calls for Face Recognition Ban Over 90 Percent False-Positive Rate[…]

Thieves suck millions out of Mexican banks in transfer heist

Thieves siphoned hundreds of millions of pesos out of Mexican banks, including No. 2 Banorte, by creating phantom orders that wired funds to bogus accounts and promptly withdrew the money, two sources close to the government’s investigation said. Hackers sent hundreds of false orders to move amounts ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of Read more about Thieves suck millions out of Mexican banks in transfer heist[…]

UPnP joins the ‘just turn it off on consumer devices, already’ club

It’s not particularly difficult, particularly with Shodan to help. The required steps are: Discover targets on Shodan by searching for the rootDesc.xml file (Imperva found 1.3 million devices); Use HTTP to access rootDesc.xml; Modify the victim’s port forwarding rules (the researchers noted that this isn’t supposed to work, since port forwarding should be between internal Read more about UPnP joins the ‘just turn it off on consumer devices, already’ club[…]

Boffins build smallest drone to fly itself with AI

A team of computer scientists have built the smallest completely autonomous nano-drone that can control itself without the need for a human guidance. Although computer vision has improved rapidly thanks to machine learning and AI, it remains difficult to deploy algorithms on devices like drones due to memory, bandwidth and power constraints. But researchers from Read more about Boffins build smallest drone to fly itself with AI[…]

Square Off: The Magic Chess Board with self moving pieces allows you to play remotely or vs AI

No holograms, no 3D, no AR, no bullshit. Square Off is a chess board where the pieces move themselves, and you can play online or against AI. Square Off is really something special. There’s no avoiding a smile the first time you see a knight slide out from the back row without banging into any Read more about Square Off: The Magic Chess Board with self moving pieces allows you to play remotely or vs AI[…]

Oh, great, now there’s a SECOND remote Rowhammer exploit / Nethammer

Hard on the heels of the first network-based Rowhammer attack, some of the boffins involved in discovering Meltdown/Spectre have shown off their own technique for flipping bits using network requests. With a gigabit connection to the victim, the researchers reckon, they can induce security-critical bit flips using crafted quality-of-service packets. Last week, we reported on Read more about Oh, great, now there’s a SECOND remote Rowhammer exploit / Nethammer[…]

Kinect is back!

Building on the technology that debuted with Kinect and became a core part of HoloLens, Project Kinect for Azure combines Microsoft’s next-generation depth camera with the power of Azure services to enable new scenarios for developers working with ambient intelligence. This technology will transform AI on the edge with spatial, human, and object understanding, increasing Read more about Kinect is back![…]

Humble Monthly – loads of PC games for $12 per month

SUBSCRIBE AND GET A LOT OF GAMES Humble Monthly is a curated bundle of games sent to your inbox every month. Subscribe for $12/month to immediately unlock Destiny 2 ( MSRP: $59.99) with more to come! Build the ultimate game library. Every game is yours to keep. Cancel anytime. Redeem on Blizzard Battle.net 10% off Read more about Humble Monthly – loads of PC games for $12 per month[…]

AI trained to navigate develops brain-like location tracking

Now that DeepMind has solved Go, the company is applying DeepMind to navigation. Navigation relies on knowing where you are in space relative to your surroundings and continually updating that knowledge as you move. DeepMind scientists trained neural networks to navigate like this in a square arena, mimicking the paths that foraging rats took as Read more about AI trained to navigate develops brain-like location tracking[…]

Why Scientists Think AI Systems Should Debate Each Other

Ultimately, AI systems are only useful and safe as long as the goals they’ve learned actually mesh with what humans want them to do, and it can often be hard to know if they’ve subtly learned to solve the wrong problems or make bad decisions in certain conditions. To make AI easier for humans to Read more about Why Scientists Think AI Systems Should Debate Each Other[…]

Infosec brainiacs release public dataset to classify new malware using AI

Researchers at Endgame, a cyber-security biz based in Virginia, have published what they believe is the first large open-source dataset for machine learning malware detection known as EMBER. EMBER contains metadata describing 1.1 million Windows portable executable files: 900,000 training samples evenly split into malicious, benign, and unlabeled categories and 200,000 files of test samples Read more about Infosec brainiacs release public dataset to classify new malware using AI[…]

Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Targeting Network Infrastructure Devices

On April 19, 2018, an industry partner notified NCCIC and the FBI of malicious cyber activity that aligns with the techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTPs) and network indicators listed in this Alert. Specifically, the industry partner reported the actors redirected DNS queries to their own infrastructure by creating GRE tunnels and obtained sensitive information, which Read more about Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Targeting Network Infrastructure Devices[…]

Facebook admits it does track non-users, for their own good

Facebook’s apology-and-explanation machine grinds on, with The Social Network™ posting detail on one of its most controversial activities – how it tracks people who don’t use Facebook. The company explained that the post is a partial response to questions CEO Mark Zuckerberg was unable to answer during his senate and Congressional hearings. It’s no real Read more about Facebook admits it does track non-users, for their own good[…]

Artificial intelligence can scour code to find accidentally public passwords

researchers at software infrastructure firm Pivotal have taught AI to locate this accidentally public sensitive information in a surprising way: By looking at the code as if it were a picture. Since modern artificial intelligence is arguably better than humans at identifying minute differences in images, telling the difference between a password and normal code Read more about Artificial intelligence can scour code to find accidentally public passwords[…]

This AI-Controlled Roach Breeding Site Is a Nightmare Factory

In the city of Xichang, located in the southwestern Sichuan province, there is a massive, artificial intelligence-powered roach breeding farm that is producing more than six billion cockroaches per year. The facility, which is described by the South China Morning Post as a multi-story building about the size of two sports fields, is being operated Read more about This AI-Controlled Roach Breeding Site Is a Nightmare Factory[…]

Many Satellites run Windows 95 – and are ripe for hacking

Hundreds of multi-ton liabilities—soaring faster than the speed of sound, miles above the surface of the earth—are operating on Windows-95.They’re satellites, responsible for everything from GPS positioning, to taking weather measurements, to carrying cell signals, to providing television and internet. For the countries that own these satellites, they’re invaluable resources. Even though they’re old, it’s Read more about Many Satellites run Windows 95 – and are ripe for hacking[…]

Hackers Steal Data on 14 Million Users From Ride-Hail App Careem

Careem, a ride-hail startup based in Dubai and operating in 14 countries, announced today that hackers stole data belonging to 14 million riders and drivers. The company discovered the breach on January 14 but waited to notify its customers because the investigation was ongoing. “Cybercrime investigations are immensely complicated and take time. We wanted to Read more about Hackers Steal Data on 14 Million Users From Ride-Hail App Careem[…]

Forget the Double Helix—Scientists Discovered a New DNA Structure Inside Human Cells

For the first time ever, scientists have identified the existence of a new DNA structure that looks more like a twisted, four-stranded knot than the double helix we all know from high school biology. The newly identified structure, detailed Monday in the journal Nature Chemistry, could play a crucial role in how DNA is expressed. Read more about Forget the Double Helix—Scientists Discovered a New DNA Structure Inside Human Cells[…]

Yahoo! fined! $35m! for! covering! up! massive! IT! security! screwup!

The Disaster Formerly Known as Yahoo! has been fined $35m by US financial watchdog, the SEC, for failing to tell anyone about one of the world’s largest ever computer security breaches. Now known as Altaba following its long, slow and painful descent in irrelevance, Yahoo! knew that its entire user database – including billions of Read more about Yahoo! fined! $35m! for! covering! up! massive! IT! security! screwup![…]

McAfee’s Cryptocurrency Leaks Personal Information for Thousands of Investors

On Mar 30, researchers at Kromtech Security identified a database open to the public containing full names, addresses, email addresses, encrypted passwords, wallet information, along with links to scanned passports, driver’s licenses, and other IDs for over 25,000 investors of the newly created Bezop. The information was found within a MongoDB database without any security. Read more about McAfee’s Cryptocurrency Leaks Personal Information for Thousands of Investors[…]

Gaia creates richest star map of our Galaxy – and beyond / Gaia / Space Science / Our Activities / ESA

ESA’s Gaia mission has produced the richest star catalogue to date, including high-precision measurements of nearly 1.7 billion stars and revealing previously unseen details of our home Galaxy. A multitude of discoveries are on the horizon after this much awaited release, which is based on 22 months of charting the sky. The new data includes Read more about Gaia creates richest star map of our Galaxy – and beyond / Gaia / Space Science / Our Activities / ESA[…]

Researchers are keeping pig brains alive outside the body

In a step that could change the definition of death, researchers have restored circulation to the brains of decapitated pigs and kept the reanimated organs alive for as long as 36 hours. The feat offers scientists a new way to study intact brains in the lab in stunning detail. But it also inaugurates a bizarre Read more about Researchers are keeping pig brains alive outside the body[…]

The World’s First Working Projector Smartwatch Turns Your Arm Into a Big Touchscreen

Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag. GIF: Carnegie Mellon University & ASU Tech Some smartwatches come with powerful processors, lots of storage, and robust software, but have limited capabilities compared to smartphones thanks to their tiny touchscreens. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, however, have now created a smartwatch prototype with a built-in projector Read more about The World’s First Working Projector Smartwatch Turns Your Arm Into a Big Touchscreen[…]