Month: January 2019

Project Alias is a DIY project that deafens your home voice assistant until you want it to listen to you

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Alias is a teachable “parasite” that is designed to give users more control over their smart assistants, both when it comes to customisation and privacy. Through a simple app the user can train Alias to react on a custom wake-word/sound, and once trained, Alias can take control over your home assistant by activating it for Read more about Project Alias is a DIY project that deafens your home voice assistant until you want it to listen to you[…]

International stock trading scheme hacked into SEC database EDGAR – again

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Federal prosecutors unveiled charges in an international stock-trading scheme that involved hacking into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR corporate filing system. The scheme allegedly netted $4.1 million for fraudsters from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine. Using 157 corporate earnings announcements, the group was able to execute trades on material nonpublic information. Most of those Read more about International stock trading scheme hacked into SEC database EDGAR – again[…]

North Korean Hackers Gain Access to Chilean ATMs Through Skype

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The one thing no one expects on a job interview is North Korean hackers picking up on the other line. But that’s apparently exactly what happened to a hapless employee at Redbanc, the company that handles Chile’s ATM network. The bizarre story was reported in trendTIC, a Chilean tech site. A Redbanc employee found a Read more about North Korean Hackers Gain Access to Chilean ATMs Through Skype[…]

Do you feel ‘lucky’, well, do you, punk? Google faces down magic button patent claim

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google has won a patent dispute over its famous “I’m feeling lucky” button that immediately connects a user to its top-raking search link with a single click. The search engine giant was sued in 2016 by Israeli company Spring Ventures (previously Buy2 Networks) for allegedly infringing on its patent, US 8,661,094, that covers displaying a Read more about Do you feel ‘lucky’, well, do you, punk? Google faces down magic button patent claim[…]

South Korea says mystery hackers cracked advanced weapons servers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The South Korea Ministry of National Defense says 10 of its internal PCs have been compromised by North Korea unknown hackers . Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo reports that the targeted machines belonged to the ministry’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the office in charge of military procurement. The report notes that the breached machines would have held Read more about South Korea says mystery hackers cracked advanced weapons servers[…]

Converting Cancer Cells to Fat Cells to Stop Cancer’s Spread

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A method for fooling breast cancer cells into fat cells has been discovered by researchers from the University of Basel. The team were able to transform EMT-derived breast cancer cells into fat cells in a mouse model of the disease – preventing the formation of metastases. The proof-of-concept study was published in the journal Cancer Read more about Converting Cancer Cells to Fat Cells to Stop Cancer’s Spread[…]

Forget Finding Nemo: This AI can identify a single zebrafish out of a 100-strong shoal

Posted on by Robin Edgar

AI systems excel in pattern recognition, so much so that they can stalk individual zebrafish and fruit flies even when the animals are in groups of up to a hundred. To demonstrate this, a group of researchers from the Champalimaud Foundation, a private biomedical research lab in Portugal, trained two convolutional neural networks to identify Read more about Forget Finding Nemo: This AI can identify a single zebrafish out of a 100-strong shoal[…]

Cottoning on: Chinese seed sprouts on moon

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A small green shoot is growing on the moon in an out-of-this-world first after a cotton seed germinated on board a Chinese lunar lander, scientists said Tuesday. The sprout has emerged from a lattice-like structure inside a canister since the Chang’e-4 lander set down earlier this month, according to a series of photos released by Read more about Cottoning on: Chinese seed sprouts on moon[…]

Relying on karma: Research explains why outrage doesn’t usually result in revolution

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you’re angry about the political feud that drove the federal government to partially shut down, or about a golden parachute for a CEO who ran a business into the ground, you aren’t alone—but you probably won’t do much about it, according to new research by Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. The research, Read more about Relying on karma: Research explains why outrage doesn’t usually result in revolution[…]

202 Million private Chinese resumes exposed

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On December 28th, Bob Diachenko, Director of Cyber Risk Research at Hacken.io and bug bounty platform HackenProof, analyzed the data stream of BinaryEdge search engine and identified an open and unprotected MongoDB instance: The same IP also appeared in Shodan search results: Upon closer inspection, an 854 GB sized MongoDB database was left unattended, with Read more about 202 Million private Chinese resumes exposed[…]

A neural network can learn to organize the world it sees into concepts and MIT has found a way to show how it’s doing it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As good as they are at causing mischief, researchers from the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab realized GANs are also a powerful tool: because they paint what they’re “thinking,” they could give humans insight into how neural networks learn and reason. This has been something the broader research community has sought for a long time—and it’s Read more about A neural network can learn to organize the world it sees into concepts and MIT has found a way to show how it’s doing it[…]

GPU Accelerated Realtime Skin Smoothing Algorithms Make Actors Look Perfect

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A recent Guardian article about the need for actors and celebrities — male and female — to look their best in a high-definition media world ended on the note that several low-profile Los Angeles VFX outfits specialize in “beautifying actors” in movies, TV shows and video ads. They reportedly use a software named “Beauty Box,” Read more about GPU Accelerated Realtime Skin Smoothing Algorithms Make Actors Look Perfect[…]

Amazon’s Ring Security Cameras Allow Anyone to Watch Easily – And They Do!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

But for some who’ve welcomed in Amazon’s Ring security cameras, there have been more than just algorithms watching through the lens, according to sources alarmed by Ring’s dismal privacy practices. Ring has a history of lax, sloppy oversight when it comes to deciding who has access to some of the most precious, intimate data belonging Read more about Amazon’s Ring Security Cameras Allow Anyone to Watch Easily – And They Do![…]

Netflix password sharing may soon be impossible due to new AI tracking

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A video software firm has come up with a way to prevent people from sharing their account details for Netflix and other streaming services with friends and family members. UK-based Synamedia unveiled the artificial intelligence software at the CES 2019 technology trade show in Las Vegas, claiming it could save the streaming industry billions of dollars over the next Read more about Netflix password sharing may soon be impossible due to new AI tracking[…]

Modlishka allows for very easy fishing / MITM

Posted on by Robin Edgar

You basically just put it on a local domain, point people there and it forwards the traffic up and down to the target website – so no templates, no warnings. It will also push through two factor authentication requests and answers. Modlishka is a flexible and powerful reverse proxy, that will take your phishing campaigns Read more about Modlishka allows for very easy fishing / MITM[…]

Y’know how you might look at someone and can’t help but wonder if they have a genetic disorder? We’ve taught AI to do the same

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Artificial intelligence can potentially identify someone’s genetic disorders by inspecting a picture of their face, according to a paper published in Nature Medicine this week. The tech relies on the fact some genetic conditions impact not just a person’s health, mental function, and behaviour, but sometimes are accompanied with distinct facial characteristics. For example, people Read more about Y’know how you might look at someone and can’t help but wonder if they have a genetic disorder? We’ve taught AI to do the same[…]

Professor exposing unethical academic publishing is being sued by university in childish discrediting counterclaims of being unethical for showing unethical behaviour

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The three authors, who describe themselves as leftists, spent 10 months writing 20 hoax papers they submitted to reputable journals in gender, race, sexuality, and related fields. Seven were accepted, four were published online, and three were in the process of being published when questions raised in October by a skeptical Wall Street Journal editorial writer Read more about Professor exposing unethical academic publishing is being sued by university in childish discrediting counterclaims of being unethical for showing unethical behaviour[…]

T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T Are Selling Customers’ Real-Time Location Data, And It’s Falling Into the Wrong Hands

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Nervously, I gave a bounty hunter a phone number. He had offered to geolocate a phone for me, using a shady, overlooked service intended not for the cops, but for private individuals and businesses. Armed with just the number and a few hundred dollars, he said he could find the current location of most phones Read more about T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T Are Selling Customers’ Real-Time Location Data, And It’s Falling Into the Wrong Hands[…]

Welcome to 2019: Your Exchange server can be pwned by an email (and other bugs need fixing)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Among the 49 bug fixes were patches for remote code execution flaws in DHCP (CVE-2019-0547) and an Exchange memory corruption flaw (CVE-2019-0586) that Trend Micro ZDI researcher Dustin Childs warns is particularly dangerous as it can be exploited simply by sending an email to a vulnerable server. “That’s a bit of a problem, as receiving Read more about Welcome to 2019: Your Exchange server can be pwned by an email (and other bugs need fixing)[…]

Millions of Americans Are Wrong About Having a Food Allergy: about 1/2 who think they have don’t, but have never seen a doc about it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Millions of Americans might be mistaken about their self-professed food allergy, suggests a new survey. It found that while nearly 20 percent of people said they had a food allergy, only half as many people reported the sort of symptoms you’d expect from eating something you’re allergic to. Researchers surveyed more than 40,000 adults via Read more about Millions of Americans Are Wrong About Having a Food Allergy: about 1/2 who think they have don’t, but have never seen a doc about it[…]

Sony appears to be blocking Kodi on its recent Android TVs

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For the unfamiliar, Kodi is an open source, cross-platform streaming and media player solution that allows you to access and play local, network, and remote content. The UI has been extensively optimized over the last 15 years since the XBMC days to provide one of the best big-screen experiences out there, and it’s been one Read more about Sony appears to be blocking Kodi on its recent Android TVs[…]

Snips – a private, offline voice assistant

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Snips is the first Voice Platform where you can build an Voice Assistant that is Private by Design. Source: Snips — Using Voice to Make Technology Disappear Which means, unlike Alexa or Google Home, your voice data doesn’t get listened to by the cloud, doesn’t get saved by strangers targetting advertising at you and works Read more about Snips – a private, offline voice assistant[…]

NSA to release a free reverse engineering tool GHIDRA

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The US National Security Agency will release a free reverse engineering tool at the upcoming RSA security conference that will be held at the start of March, in San Francisco. The software’s name is GHIDRA and in technical terms, is a disassembler, a piece of software that breaks down executable files into assembly code that Read more about NSA to release a free reverse engineering tool GHIDRA[…]

A mathematical approach for understanding intra-plant communication

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A team of researchers at the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) and Istituto Italiano di Technologia (IIT) have devised a mathematical approach for understanding intra-plant communication. In their paper, pre-published on bioRxiv, they propose a fully coupled system of non-linear, non-autonomous discontinuous and ordinary differential equations that can accurately describe the adapting behavior and growth Read more about A mathematical approach for understanding intra-plant communication[…]

Can’t unlock an Android phone? No problem, just take a Skype call: App allows passcode bypass

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A newly disclosed vulnerability in Skype for Android could be exploited by miscreants to bypass an Android phone’s passcode screen to view photos, contacts, and even launch browser windows. Bug-hunter Florian Kunushevci today told The Register the security flaw, which has been reported to Microsoft, allows the person in possession of someone’s phone to receive Read more about Can’t unlock an Android phone? No problem, just take a Skype call: App allows passcode bypass[…]