How A Massive Ad Fraud Scheme Exploited Android Phones To Steal Millions Of Dollars

Last April, Steven Schoen received an email from someone named Natalie Andrea who said she worked for a company called We Purchase Apps. She wanted to buy his Android app, Emoji Switcher. But right away, something seemed off. “I did a little bit of digging because I was a little sketched out because I couldn’t Read more about How A Massive Ad Fraud Scheme Exploited Android Phones To Steal Millions Of Dollars[…]

When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

When President Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to gossip, gripe or solicit their latest take on how he is doing, American intelligence reports indicate that Chinese spies are often listening — and putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the president and affect administration policy, current and former Read more about When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn[…]

SIM Cards That Force Your Mobile Data Through Tor Are Coming

It’s increasingly difficult to expect privacy when you’re browsing online, so a non-profit in the UK is working to build the power of Tor’s anonymity network right into the heart of your smartphone. Brass Horn Communications is experimenting with all sorts of ways to improve Tor’s usability for UK residents. The Tor browser bundle for Read more about SIM Cards That Force Your Mobile Data Through Tor Are Coming[…]

Facebook, Google sued for ‘secretly’ slurping people’s whereabouts – while Feds lap it up

Facebook and Google are being sued in two proposed class-action lawsuits for allegedly deceptively gathering location data on netizens who thought they had opted out of such cyber-stalking. The legal challenges stem from revelations earlier this year that even after users actively turn off “location history” on their smartphones, their location is still gathered, stored, Read more about Facebook, Google sued for ‘secretly’ slurping people’s whereabouts – while Feds lap it up[…]

Yahoo to pay $50M, other costs for massive security breach

Yahoo has agreed to pay $50 million in damages and provide two years of free credit-monitoring services to 200 million people whose email addresses and other personal information were stolen as part of the biggest security breach in history. The restitution hinges on federal court approval of a settlement filed late Monday in a 2-year-old Read more about Yahoo to pay $50M, other costs for massive security breach[…]

Winamp returns in 2019 to whip the llama’s ass harder than ever

For those who don’t remember: Winamp was the MP3 player of choice around the turn of the century, but went through a rocky period during Aol ownership (our former parent company) and failed to counter the likes of iTunes and the onslaught of streaming services, and more or less crumbled over the years. The original Read more about Winamp returns in 2019 to whip the llama’s ass harder than ever[…]

Posted in Art

Alexa heard what you did last summer – and she knows what that was, too: AI recognizes activities from sound

Boffins have devised a way to make eavesdropping smartwatches, computers, mobile devices, and speakers with endearing names like Alexa better aware of what’s going on around them. In a paper to be presented today at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) in Berlin, Germany, computer scientists Gierad Laput, Karan Ahuja, Mayank Read more about Alexa heard what you did last summer – and she knows what that was, too: AI recognizes activities from sound[…]

Printer Makers Are Crippling Cheap Ink Cartridges Via Bogus ‘Security Updates’ – endangering networks because people stop updating

Printer maker Epson is under fire this month from activist groups after a software update prevented customers from using cheaper, third party ink cartridges. It’s just the latest salvo in a decades-long effort by printer manufacturers to block consumer choice, often by disguising printer downgrades as essential product improvements. For several decades now printer manufacturers Read more about Printer Makers Are Crippling Cheap Ink Cartridges Via Bogus ‘Security Updates’ – endangering networks because people stop updating[…]

Detect and disconnect WiFi cameras in that AirBnB you’re staying in

There have been a few too many stories lately of AirBnB hosts caught spying on their guests with WiFi cameras, using DropCam cameras in particular. Here’s a quick script that will detect two popular brands of WiFi cameras during your stay and disconnect them in turn. It’s based on glasshole.sh. It should do away with Read more about Detect and disconnect WiFi cameras in that AirBnB you’re staying in[…]

Researcher finds simple way of elevating user privileges on Windows PCs and nobody notices for ten months

A security researcher from Colombia has found a way of assigning admin rights and gaining boot persistence on Windows PCs that’s simple to execute and hard to stop –all the features that hackers and malware authors are looking for from an exploitation technique. What’s more surprising, is that the technique was first detailed way back Read more about Researcher finds simple way of elevating user privileges on Windows PCs and nobody notices for ten months[…]

Pando, One of the world’s largest organisms is shrinking

The Pando aspen grove, located in central Utah, is the largest organism on the planet by weight. From the surface, it may look like a forest that spans more than 100 U.S. football fields, but each tree shares the exact same DNA and is connected to its clonal brethren through an elaborate underground root system. Read more about Pando, One of the world’s largest organisms is shrinking[…]

Twitter releases all foreign election campaign influencing tweets and media for you to study

n line with our principles of transparency and to improve public understanding of alleged foreign influence campaigns, Twitter is making publicly available archives of Tweets and media that we believe resulted from potentially state-backed information operations on our service. Examples of the content include:   While this dataset is of a size that a degree Read more about Twitter releases all foreign election campaign influencing tweets and media for you to study[…]

NASA and Google using AI to hunt down potentially habitable planets

Astrobiologists are mostly interested in rocky exoplanets that lie in the habitable zone around their parent stars, where liquid water may exist on its surface. NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has spotted a handful of these in the so-called Goldilocks Zone – where it’s not too cold or too hot for life. As such, a second team Read more about NASA and Google using AI to hunt down potentially habitable planets[…]

Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt

Microplastics were found in sea salt several years ago. But how extensively plastic bits are spread throughout the most commonly used seasoning remained unclear. Now, new research shows microplastics in 90 percent of the table salt brands sampled worldwide. Of 39 salt brands tested, 36 had microplastics in them, according to a new analysis by Read more about Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt[…]

Wide-eyed glare scares raptors: From laboratory evidence to applied management

Raptors are one of the most important causes of fatalities due to their collisions with aircrafts as well as being the main victims of collisions with constructions. They are difficult to deter because they are not influenced by other airspace users or ground predators. Because vision is the primary sensory mode of many diurnal raptors, Read more about Wide-eyed glare scares raptors: From laboratory evidence to applied management[…]

Branch.io bug left ‘685 million’ netizens open to website hacks

Bug-hunters have told how they uncovered a significant security flaw that affected the likes of Tinder, Yelp, Shopify, and Western Union – and potentially hundreds of millions of folks using these sites and apps. The software sniffers said they first came across the exploitable programming blunder while digging into webpage code on dating websites. After Read more about Branch.io bug left ‘685 million’ netizens open to website hacks[…]

Star Wars: KOTOR Fan Remake Shutting Down After Cease And Desist From Lucasfilm

Back in 2016, an ambitious group of fans began work on an Unreal Engine 4 “reboot” of role-playing, light-sabering classic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic called Apeiron. The project has made impressive progress since then, but it emitted a tragic Wilhelm scream this week when Lucasfilm lawyers zapped it out of existence. As Read more about Star Wars: KOTOR Fan Remake Shutting Down After Cease And Desist From Lucasfilm[…]

Senators to Google: Why didn’t you disclose massive Google+ vulnerability sooner? Oh, and Why can’t you Google the breach itself?

3 GOP senators want Google to give answers over data leak that affected 500,000 users. Source: Senators to Google: Why didn’t you disclose Google+ vulnerability sooner? It’s only three senators and chances are you haven’t heard of the massive, millions affected data breach suffered by Google, that they didn’t report. Interestingly, if you try to Read more about Senators to Google: Why didn’t you disclose massive Google+ vulnerability sooner? Oh, and Why can’t you Google the breach itself?[…]

The US military wants to teach AI some basic common sense

Wherever artificial intelligence is deployed, you will find it has failed in some amusing way. Take the strange errors made by translation algorithms that confuse having someone for dinner with, well, having someone for dinner. But as AI is used in ever more critical situations, such as driving autonomous cars, making medical diagnoses, or drawing life-or-death Read more about The US military wants to teach AI some basic common sense[…]

Google’s AI Bots Invent New Legs to Scamper Through Obstacle Courses

Using a technique called reinforcement learning, a researcher at Google Brain has shown that virtual robots can redesign their body parts to help them navigate challenging obstacle courses—even if the solutions they come up with are completely bizarre. Embodied cognition is the idea that an animal’s cognitive abilities are influenced and constrained by its body Read more about Google’s AI Bots Invent New Legs to Scamper Through Obstacle Courses[…]

EU hijacking: self-driving car data will be copyrighted…by the manufacturer – not to be released by drivers / engineers / researchers / mechanics

Today, the EU held a routine vote on regulations for self-driving cars, when something decidedly out of the ordinary happened… The autonomous vehicle rules contained a clause that affirmed that “data generated by autonomous transport are automatically generated and are by nature not creative, thus making copyright protection or the right on databases inapplicable.” This Read more about EU hijacking: self-driving car data will be copyrighted…by the manufacturer – not to be released by drivers / engineers / researchers / mechanics[…]

Ancestry Sites Could Soon Expose Nearly Anyone’s Identity, Researchers Say

Genetic testing has helped plenty of people gain insight into their ancestry, and some services even help users find their long-lost relatives. But a new study published this week in Science suggests that the information uploaded to these services can be used to figure out your identity, regardless of whether you volunteered your DNA in Read more about Ancestry Sites Could Soon Expose Nearly Anyone’s Identity, Researchers Say[…]

Stanford AI bot to negotiate sales for you with Craigslist

Artificially intelligent bots are notoriously bad at communicating with, well, anything. Conversations with the code, whether it’s between themselves or with people, often go awry, and veer off topic. Grammar goes out the window, and sentences become nonsensical. […] Well, a group of researchers at Stanford University in the US have figured out how to, Read more about Stanford AI bot to negotiate sales for you with Craigslist[…]

Slow your roll: VMware urges admins to apply workarounds to DoS-inducing 3D render vuln

The vuln (CVE-2018-6977) allows an attacker with normal local user privileges to trigger an infinite loop in a 3D-rendering shader. According to VMware, a “specially crafted 3D shader may loop for an infinite amount of time and lock up a VM’s virtual graphics device”. If that happens, VMware warned, the hypervisor may rely on the Read more about Slow your roll: VMware urges admins to apply workarounds to DoS-inducing 3D render vuln[…]