The Kaseya ransomware attack, which occurred in July and affected as many as 1,500 companies worldwide, was a big, destructive mess—one of the largest and most unwieldy of its kind in recent memory. But new information shows the FBI could have lightened the blow victims suffered but chose not to. A new report from the Read more about FBI Had REvil’s Kaseya Ransomware Decryption Key for Weeks[…]
A database containing personal information on 106 million international travelers to Thailand was exposed to the public internet this year, a Brit biz claimed this week. Bob Diachenko, head of cybersecurity research at product-comparison website Comparitech, said the Elasticsearch data store contained visitors’ full names, passport numbers, arrival dates, visa types, residency status, and more. Read more about Database containing 106m Thailand travelers’ details over the past decade leaked[…]
NEW DELHI, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Google abused the dominant position of its Android operating system in India, using its “huge financial muscle” to illegally hurt competitors, the country’s antitrust authority found in a report on its two-year probe seen by Reuters. Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google reduced “the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to Read more about India antitrust probe finds Google abused Android dominance[…]
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has launched an internal investigation after committing the classic CC-instead-of-BCC email error – but with the names and contact details of Afghan interpreters trapped in the Taliban-controlled nation. The horrendous data breach took place yesterday, with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace promising an immediate investigation, according to the BBC. Included in Read more about MoD apologises after Afghan interpreters’ personal data exposed (yes the ones still in Afghanistan)[…]
he Wall Street Journal has had something of a banner week tearing down Facebook. Its series on a trove of internal company documents obtained by the paper has unveiled Facebook’s secret system for treating certain users as above the rules, company research showing how harmful Instagram is for young girls, how the site’s algorithmic solutions Read more about Facebook Documents Show It Fumbled the Fight Over Vaccines[…]
Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan signaled changes are on the way in how the agency scrutinizes acquisitions after revealing the results of a study of a decade’s worth of Big Tech company deals that weren’t reported to the agency. Why it matters: Tech’s business ecosystem is built on giant companies buying up small startups, Read more about FTC releases findings on how Big Tech eats little tech in deals that fly under the radar[…]
Internal memos show how a big 2018 change rewarded outrage and that CEO Mark Zuckerberg resisted proposed fixes In the fall of 2018, Jonah Peretti, chief executive of online publisher BuzzFeed, emailed a top official at Facebook Inc. The most divisive content that publishers produced was going viral on the platform, he said, creating an Read more about Facebook’s 2018 Algorithm Change ‘Rewarded Outrage’. Zuck Resisted Fixes[…]
YouTube, the Ig Nobel Prizes, and the Year 1914 YouTube’s notorious takedown algorithms are blocking the video of the 2021 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. We have so far been unable to find a human at YouTube who can fix that. We recommend that you watch the identical recording on Vimeo. The Fatal Song This is Read more about Ig Nobel Prizes blocked by YouTube takedown over 1914 song snippet – can’t find human to fix the error[…]
Last month, Stanford researchers declared that a new era of artificial intelligence had arrived, one built atop colossal neural networks and oceans of data. They said a new research center at Stanford would build—and study—these “foundation models” of AI. Critics of the idea surfaced quickly—including at the workshop organized to mark the launch of the Read more about A Stanford Proposal Over AI’s ‘Foundations’ Ignites Debate[…]
Alaska discloses ‘sophisticated’ nation-state cyberattack on health service A nation-state cyber-espionage group has gained access to the IT network of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Service (DHSS), the agency said last week. The attack, which is still being investigated, was discovered on May 2, earlier this year, by a security firm, which notified Read more about Alaska discloses ‘sophisticated’ nation-state cyberattack on health service[…]
Rolls-Royce, best known in aviation for its jet engines, has taken an all-electric airplane on its maiden voyage. The “Spirit of Innovation” completed a 15 minute flight, marking “the beginning of an intensive flight-testing phase in which we will be collecting valuable performance data on the aircraft’s electrical power and propulsion system,” the company announced. Read more about Rolls-Royce’s all-electric aircraft completes 15-minute maiden voyage[…]
A man who the Department of Justice says unlocked AT&T customers’ phones for a fee was sentenced to 12 years in prison, in what the judge called “a terrible cybercrime over an extended period,” which allegedly continued even after authorities were on to the scheme. According to a news release from the DOJ, in 2012, Read more about Judge in pocket of big business throws book at Man who unlocked nearly 2 million AT&T phones: 12 years in prison[…]
When two substances are brought together, they will eventually settle into a steady state called thermodynamic equilibrium; examples include oil floating on top of water and milk mixing uniformly into coffee. Researchers at Aalto University in Finland wanted to disrupt this sort of state to see what happens—and whether they can control the outcome. […] Read more about Physicists make square droplets and liquid lattices[…]
Aggrieved MacBook owners in two separate lawsuits claim Apple’s latest laptops with its M1 chips have defective screens that break easily and malfunction. The complaints, both filed on Wednesday in a federal district court in San Jose, California, are each seeking class certification in the hope that the law firms involved will get a judicial Read more about Apple’s M1 MacBook screens are stunning – stunningly fragile and defective, that is, lawsuits allege[…]
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Institut Pasteur in France have developed a technique for reconstructing whole genomes, including the human genome, on a personal computer. This technique is about a hundred times faster than current state-of-the-art approaches and uses one-fifth the resources. The study, published September 14 in the journal Read more about Scientists can now assemble entire genomes on their personal computers in minutes[…]
The people who happen to be in a city center at any given moment may seem like a random collection of individuals. But new research featuring a simple mathematical law shows that urban travel patterns worldwide are, in fact, remarkably predictable regardless of location—an insight that could enhance models of disease spread and help to Read more about Simple Mathematical Law Predicts Movement in Cities around the World[…]
Australia’s Federal Police force on Sunday announced it intends to start using new powers designed to help combat criminal use of encryption by taking over the accounts of some social media users, then deleting or modifying content they’ve posted. The law also requires sysadmins to help those account takeovers. The force (AFP) stated its intentions Read more about Australia gave police power to compel sysadmins into assisting account takeovers – so they plan to use it[…]
South Korea’s competition regulator on Tuesday announced it will fine Google 207.4 billion Korean won ($176.9 million) for allegedly using its dominant market position in the mobile operating system space to stifle competition. Google’s Android operating system currently holds the lion’s share of the smartphone market, ahead of Apple’s iOS platform. The U.S. tech giant Read more about South Korea’s antitrust regulator fines Google $177 million for stifling innovation and competition[…]
Singapore’s Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) roving robot has hit the streets of Toa Payoh Central as part of a trial to support public officers in enhancing public health and safety. The robot, named Xavier, was jointly developed by HTX and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. It is fitted with sensors Read more about Singapore snitchbots into the streets to detect “undesirable social behaviours”[…]
Stakeholder mapping Explore the complex web of loyalties, interests, influence, and alignment of key players around important issues. Systems mapping Understand and engage complex systems more effectively using systems maps and causal loop diagrams. Social network mapping Capture the structure of personal networks and reveal key players. Visualize the informal networks within your organization and Read more about Kumu – network mapping tool[…]
On the eve of the iPhone 13 launch, we’ve finally been handed a ruling in the lawsuit filed by Epic Games last year. Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, sued Apple last year over claims the company was violating U.S. antitrust law by prohibiting developers from implementing alternative in-app purchase methods. Today, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers Read more about Apple wins some and loses some in big Epic Games lawsuit – judge must have been on acid[…]
Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) imaging and tracking is an emerging technology that allows the shape or position of objects around corners or behind diffusers to be recovered from transient, time-of-flight measurements. However, existing NLOS approaches require the imaging system to scan a large area on a visible surface, where the indirect light paths of hidden objects are Read more about Seeing what’s in a room by pointing a laser through a keyhole[…]
A threat actor has leaked a list of almost 500,000 Fortinet VPN login names and passwords that were allegedly scraped from exploitable devices last summer. While the threat actor states that the exploited Fortinet vulnerability has since been patched, they claim that many VPN credentials are still valid. […] The list of Fortinet credentials was Read more about Hackers leak passwords for 500,000 Fortinet VPN accounts[…]
Runelite HD is a mod (made by one person, 117) that takes Old School RuneScape and gives it an HD makeover. As far back as 2018, Jagex were issuing legal threats against mods like this, claiming they were copyright infringement. However, those appeared to have blown over as Jagex gave their blessing to the original Runelite. Read more about Jagex Blocks Release Of Popular Runescape Mod Runelite HD[…]
The High Court’s ruling on Wednesday is just a small part of a larger case brought against Australian news outlets, including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Australian, among others, by a man who said he was defamed in the Facebook comments of the newspapers’ stories in 2016. The question before the High Read more about Australia: Facebook Users Liable for Comments Under Their Posts[…]