Month: April 2021

Microsoft received almost 25,000 requests for consumer data from law enforcement over the last six months

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft has had a busy six months if its latest biannual digital trust report is anything to go by as law enforcement agencies crept closer to making 25,000 legal requests. Requests for consumer data reached 24,798 during the second half of 2020, up from 24,093 during the previous six-month period, and quite a jump from Read more about Microsoft received almost 25,000 requests for consumer data from law enforcement over the last six months[…]

DARPA picks Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin to build nuclear spacecraft

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] To speed up the pace of NTP tech development, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected a trio of companies to build and demonstrate a nuclear-based propulsion system on a spacecraft above low-Earth orbit by 2025. The prime contractors include Jeff Bezos’ private space project Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, and General Read more about DARPA picks Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin to build nuclear spacecraft[…]

Sound location inspired by bat ears could help robots navigate outdoors

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Sound location technology has often been patterned around the human ear, but why do that when bats are clearly better at it? Virginia Tech researchers have certainly asked that question. They’ve developed a sound location system that mates a bat-like ear design with a deep neural network to pinpoint sounds within half a degree — Read more about Sound location inspired by bat ears could help robots navigate outdoors[…]

US expels Russian diplomats in response to SolarWinds hack and election interference

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The US is following through on promises of retaliation against Russia for its alleged involvement in the SolarWinds cyberattack. The AP reports that President Biden has expelled 10 Russian diplomats from Washington, DC, including members of intelligence services, in response to actions that include the SolarWinds hack. The White House also imposed sanctions on 32 Read more about US expels Russian diplomats in response to SolarWinds hack and election interference[…]

Blue Origin launches and lands space rockets without exploding. Unlike SpaceX.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Blue Origin has successfully completed a test launch and landing of its reuseable New Shepard rocket with an advanced capsule design, bringing the outfit one step closer to eventually sending up paying passengers. The test flight, codenamed NS-15 as it’s the 15th to date, was conducted at 1651 UTC (1151 CDT) at a Blue Origin Read more about Blue Origin launches and lands space rockets without exploding. Unlike SpaceX.[…]

Millions of passwords leaked by hacked webshop Allekabels.nl

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Webshop Allekabels has leaked private data and passwords of millions of Dutch people. It may be the largest password data breach in the Netherlands ever. Allekabels’ stolen database, containing the private data of some 3.6 million people, was put up for sale on a hacker forum at the end of January for a sum of Read more about Millions of passwords leaked by hacked webshop Allekabels.nl[…]

SolarWinds hack was done by Kremlin’s APT29 crew, say UK and US

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Russia’s infamous APT 29, aka Cozy Bear, was behind the SolarWinds Orion attack, the US and UK governments said today as America slapped sanctions on Russian infosec companies as well as expelling diplomats from that country’s US embassy. One of the sanctioned companies is Positive Technologies, familiar in the West for, among other things, in-depth Read more about SolarWinds hack was done by Kremlin’s APT29 crew, say UK and US[…]

Google Earth Now Shows Decades of Climate Change in Seconds

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google Earth has partnered with NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, and Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab to bring users time-lapse images of the planet’s surface—24 million satellite photos taken over 37 years. Together they offer photographic evidence of a planet changing faster than at any time in millennia. Shorelines creep Read more about Google Earth Now Shows Decades of Climate Change in Seconds[…]

New Treatment Makes Teeth Grow Back

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new experimental treatment could someday give people a way to grow missing teeth, if early research on lab animals holds up. Scientists at Japan’s Kyoto University and the University of Fukui developed a monoclonal antibody treatment that seems to trigger the body to grow new teeth, according to research published last month in the Read more about New Treatment Makes Teeth Grow Back[…]

Northrop’s servicing robot extends the life of an orbiting satellite by five years

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Intelsat’s IS-10-02 communications satellite was running low on fuel — it’s been in orbit since 2004, after all, and has already exceeded its original mission lifespan by five years. Thanks to Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle-2 (MEV-2), however, it gained another five years of life and will stay operational instead of being decommissioned. MEV-2 launched Read more about Northrop’s servicing robot extends the life of an orbiting satellite by five years[…]

How to Keep Attackers From Locking You Out of WhatsApp

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] WhatsApp representatives told Forbes that the easiest way to protect yourself against this kind of an attack is to make sure you’ve associated an email address with your two-step verification process so the attacker won’t be able to spoof your identity. You can do that right now by pulling up WhatsApp, loading its Settings, Read more about How to Keep Attackers From Locking You Out of WhatsApp[…]

FBI deletes web shells from hundreds of compromised Microsoft Exchange servers before alerting admins

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The FBI deleted web shells installed by criminals on hundreds of Microsoft Exchange servers across the United States, it was revealed on Tuesday. The Feds were given approval by the courts to carry out the deletions, which occurred without first warning the servers’ owners, following the discovery and exploitation of critical vulnerabilities in the enterprise Read more about FBI deletes web shells from hundreds of compromised Microsoft Exchange servers before alerting admins[…]

$291 Adobe Cancelation Fee Sees Twitter Users Argue it’s ‘Morally Correct’ to Pirate Software

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A $291 Adobe cancelation fee has provoked fierce criticism of the creative software company. A post from a customer has gone viral on Twitter, after he discovered that he would have to pay nearly $300 to bring his Creative Cloud subscription to an end. It has sparked a discussion about Adobe’s practices, with many others Read more about $291 Adobe Cancelation Fee Sees Twitter Users Argue it’s ‘Morally Correct’ to Pirate Software[…]

Clubhouse Data Leak – 1.3M SQL Database Leaked Online. Wait, they had 1.3M users? Doubt it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Days after scraped data from more than a billion Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, collectively speaking, was put for sale online, it looks like now it’s Clubhouse’s turn. The upstart platform seems to have experienced the same fate, with an SQL database containing 1.3 million scraped Clubhouse user records leaked for free on a popular hacker Read more about Clubhouse Data Leak – 1.3M SQL Database Leaked Online. Wait, they had 1.3M users? Doubt it[…]

FSF doubles down on Richard Stallman’s return: Sure, he is ‘troubling for some’ but we need him, says org – doesn’t kneel for self entitled cancel culture idiots who can’t read Stallman’s actual quotes.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) on Monday apologized for mishandling the announcement last month that founder Richard Stallman, or RMS, had been reelected to its board of directors – and published a statement from RMS both justifying his behavior and apologizing for it. “FSF staff should have been informed and consulted first,” the FSF said. Read more about FSF doubles down on Richard Stallman’s return: Sure, he is ‘troubling for some’ but we need him, says org – doesn’t kneel for self entitled cancel culture idiots who can’t read Stallman’s actual quotes.[…]

Your WhatsApp account can be suspended by anyone who has your phone number

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It’s possible for an attacker to completely suspend your WhatsApp account, without any recourse for the individual user, and all they need is your phone number. At the time of writing there’s no solution for this issue. This newly-discovered flaw uses two separate vectors. The attacker installs WhatsApp on a new device and enters your Read more about Your WhatsApp account can be suspended by anyone who has your phone number[…]

FLoC, The Ad-Targeting Tech Google Plans To Drop On Us All might be using you as a test subject to spy on closely in Chrome

Posted on by Robin Edgar

About two weeks ago, millions of Google Chrome users were signed up for an experiment they never agreed to be a part of. Google had just launched a test run for Federated Learning of Cohorts—or FLoC–a new kind of ad-targeting tech meant to be less invasive than the average cookie. In a blog post announcing Read more about FLoC, The Ad-Targeting Tech Google Plans To Drop On Us All might be using you as a test subject to spy on closely in Chrome[…]

Feature bloat: Psychology boffins find people tend to add elements to solve a problem rather than take things away

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Scientists working on the psychology of problem solving may have hit upon why things always seem to get more complicated. A newly uncovered heuristic – a mental shortcut or rule of thumb – shows bias towards adding features to find a solution, rather than subtracting existing features. A simple experiment in Lego has provided some Read more about Feature bloat: Psychology boffins find people tend to add elements to solve a problem rather than take things away[…]

Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep

Posted on by Robin Edgar

 Here we show that individuals who are asleep and in the midst of a lucid dream (aware of the fact that they are currently dreaming) can perceive questions from an experimenter and provide answers using electrophysiological signals. We implemented our procedures for two-way communication during polysomnographically verified rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep in 36 individuals. Some had Read more about Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep[…]

Actor in Hollywood Ponzi Scheme “sold” Netflix exculsives for $690 million

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Zachary Horwitz never made it big on the Sunset Strip — there was the uncredited part in Brad Pitt’s “Fury” and a host of roles in low-budget thrillers and horror flicks. But federal charges suggest he had acting talent, duping several financial firms out of hundreds of millions of dollars and enabling him to live Read more about Actor in Hollywood Ponzi Scheme “sold” Netflix exculsives for $690 million[…]

Apple Never Made iMessage for Android to Lock Users In: Epic v Apple

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As part of the ongoing legal battle between Fortnite maker Epic and Apple, some new information has come to light confirming the most annoying thing about Apple’s iMessage app: that Apple could make a cross-platform version of iMessage for Android phones, but it won’t because it would be bad for business. This info comes from Read more about Apple Never Made iMessage for Android to Lock Users In: Epic v Apple[…]

Alibaba antitrust investigation: Beijing slaps e-commerce giant Alibaba with record US$2.8 billion fine in landmark case. US antitrust still going nowhere.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

China’s antitrust regulators slapped a record fine on one of the country’s largest technology conglomerates, closing a months-long investigation that began last Christmas Eve and setting the precedent for the government to use anti-monopoly rules to regulate the country’s Big Tech. Alibaba Group Holding, the world’s largest e-commerce company and owner of this newspaper, was Read more about Alibaba antitrust investigation: Beijing slaps e-commerce giant Alibaba with record US$2.8 billion fine in landmark case. US antitrust still going nowhere.[…]

Glass molded like plastic could usher in new era of complex glass shapes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The production of glass—one of humanity’s oldest materials—is getting a 21st century makeover. A new approach to glassmaking treats the material like plastic, allowing scientists to injection mold vaccine vials, sinuous channels for carrying out lab chemistry, and other complex shapes. “It’s a really exciting paper,” says André Studart, a materials scientist at ETH Zürich. Read more about Glass molded like plastic could usher in new era of complex glass shapes[…]

Signal Adds a New Privacy-Focused Signal Payments Feature. Some people think this is a sellout.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Signal announced on Tuesday that as a part of its latest beta, it’s adding support for a new Signal Payments feature that allows Signal users to send “privacy focused payments as easily as sending or receiving a message.” These payments are only going to be available to Android and iOS Signal users in the UK Read more about Signal Adds a New Privacy-Focused Signal Payments Feature. Some people think this is a sellout.[…]

How Bill Hwang of Archegos Capital Lost $20 Billion in Two Days

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Before he lost it all—all $20 billion—Bill Hwang was the greatest trader you’d never heard of. Starting in 2013, he parlayed more than $200 million left over from his shuttered hedge fund into a mind-boggling fortune by betting on stocks. Had he folded his hand in early March and cashed in, Hwang, 57, would have Read more about How Bill Hwang of Archegos Capital Lost $20 Billion in Two Days[…]